Jealousy
by AnimeAndMangaFan
Summary: Ruka couldn't help but develop a crush on her savior, but when a certain blonde gets in the way, how will Ruka handle the jealously? Taken place in Tag Force 5. RukaxHat Guy and SherryxHat Guy.
1. Ice Cream

This story doesn't go based upon the Tag Force 5 events for the heart events, or whatever you call them. If you've played Tag Force 4, on one of Ruka's events, the Hat Guy basically saves her from the stalker chicks. That's what's she's referring to as savior. That's the only Tag Force 4 event that takes place though. Besides that, the rest is Tag Force 5. Besides that, I named my Hat Guy Kaze, so you can change Kaze to whatever you want if that pleases you, or see it as Hat Guy, but just putting Hat Guy seemed pretty... I dunno, weird? The story will follow some of Ruka's heart events, but Hat Guy won't be his mute self and it will have some spins to it, so its not the same thing. And please don't yell about either pairing. If you played through the stories, there are pretty big hints, or at least my friends say so. But with all that aside, here's the first chapter.

* * *

><p>Seeing the two sit side by side on the bench, talking, occasional blushing, and exchanging smiles honestly made me feel sick. I know its not something I'd usually say, but I couldn't help it. That's how I felt. It made me sick to see someone who I had a crush on talking to another girl. It probably was jealously, I'll admit that. I could see why he would like that girl. Sherry LeBlanc, I think it was. She had long blond hair and green eyes. And... Well, she wasn't a kid, like me. "Hey! Ruka," my brother, Rua shouted, nearly making me jump out of my skin.<p>

"W-what is it," I asked.

"Ah, your spying on that one Kaze guy again," Rua asked, causing pink to spread across my cheeks.

"N-no! I-I'm just... I'm talking to the duel spirits," I stuttered. Rua sat there for a second, not saying anything. I felt sweat appear on my forehead.

"Oh," Rua smiled, causing me to sigh with relief as my blush faded away.

"Hey! Rua, Ruka," a familiar voice called out, causing my blush to return, but a little darker. I struggled to force my heartbeat to a normal pace and get my face to an almost normal color as I heard footsteps. "What are you guys doing," Kaze asked.

"Oh! I.. I was just," I trailed off as my efforts failed, causing my blush to creep back.

"She was talking to the duel spirits! Pretty cool, huh," Rua asked, still smiling like he always did.

"Talking to the duel spirits," Sherry asked, a hint of interest in her voice.

"Y-yeah. I can see the duel spirits and talk to them," I said.

"That's rather interesting," Sherry murmured.

"I don't think you guys have met really, have you," Kaze asked.

"We met for a short time, didn't we," Sherry asked.

"Yeah... I think so," I muttered.

"Hey Kaze! Let's duel! I lost to you in a tag duel once, but if its just you and me, I can win for sure," Rua shouted.

"Right now," Kaze asked.

"Its alright. I don't mind. I'd actually enjoy seeing you duel," Sherry smiled.

"Alright then," Kaze sighed as Rua activated his duel disk. Kaze followed and the duel started. To say that Kaze was a good duelist was an understatement. He was a really good duelist. One time, he even partnered up with me against Yusei and Aki, and we won. I looked at Sherry out of the corner of my eyes and saw that she was paying close attention to the duel and every move that was made, as if she was mapping it out in her head and making a strategy, even though she wasn't a part of the duel. Soon enough, the duel was over, and Kaze won.

"Gah! No fair! I want a rematch," Rua vented as he stomped on the ground like the kid he was.

"Rua, I'm sure they've got plenty of things to do besides-," I started.

"No. Its fine. I mean, you don't mind, do you, Sherry," Kaze asked.

"I'm content just watching the duel. I like going through the scenarios you get into and thinking of all the ways out," Sherry said.

"Alright! Let's go again," Rua cheered and the two activated their duel disks once more, causing me to sigh.

"What is it," Sherry asked. I remained quiet for a few seconds.

"Nothing," I muttered. To be honest, I didn't want to talk to her. It was as simple as that. I just felt like a bug compared to her. She seemed pretty smart and talented, and if she was interested in Kaze... I shook my head and turned back to the duel. The duel raged on for about four minutes before Kaze managed to put an end to it.

"No way! Again," Rua shouted, causing Kaze to sigh.

"Rua, let's just go. Your not going to win," I said, hoping to get Kaze out of the constant dueling that would follow if he didn't lose.

"That's not true," Kaze said, causing me to turn to him.

"At a few points in the duel, there were spots where Rua could have gotten some solid blows in if he didn't have another strategy in mind. If he would have went with a different strategy, he may have turned this whole duel around," Sherry said, causing Rua's eyes to light up.

"Told you I could win," Rua laughed.

"Yeah, but you didn't. The fact that you could have doesn't change anything," I muttered, being a little more mean than I intended.

"That's harsh," Rua pouted. "Let's go get ice cream together! You and me and Sherry and Kaze," Rua shouted.

"I wouldn't mind some," Sherry said.

"If you guys want it, I'm fine with it," Kaze said. I quickly ran to Rua's side, hoping to avoid getting into another conversation with Sherry. I made sure to pay close attention to their conversations though.

"Oh Kaze... You did really good in those duels," Sherry muttered.

"You think so," Kaze asked.

"Don't be so modest," Sherry sighed.

"I'm not trying to. I mean, he almost had me at some points," Kaze said. I felt a weight lift off my shoulders, seeing as they were just talking about duels.

"So, how do you think I did, Ruka? I mean, they're talking about it too," Rua said.

"You did good," I said. _But good isn't good enough when your going against Kaze_ I added in my head.

"I thought so too! But he had some super cool combos," Rua shouted. I heard Sherry and Kaze laugh a little at Rua's outburst, causing me to turn a little pink.

"Your so embarrassing sometimes," I muttered, making sure I wasn't loud enough for Rua to hear. Then again, when he was in his happy mood, he didn't hear anything most of the time. So in a way, I was making sure I wasn't loud enough for Sherry and Kaze to hear. Rua and I went back to talking, but I made sure to keep some of my attention on the two walking behind us, just in case. I was about to stop listening in, not hearing anything abnormal, when my interest was drawn back in.

"Oh Kaze! That's no fair! I can't make you laugh like that," Sherry giggled, causing Kaze to laugh as well. "That's it! I've decided! I'm not sharing you with anyone else," Sherry smiled with a slight blush. Kaze continued laughing, believing that Sherry was joking, but Sherry didn't join in laughing.

"Ew. I hate those kinds of mushy things," Rua sighed when he noticed that I was staring at the two. "Hey! Ruka! Earth to Ruka," Rua shouted.

"What is it," I asked.

"Your staring at those two! Are you like those grandmas who sit and watch soap operas? Because those shows are so cliche," Rua muttered.

"I was just wondering what they were talking about," I sighed.

"Whatever," Rua muttered. "Ah! There's the ice cream shop," Rua cheered and bolted ahead of us. I turned back to Kaze and Sherry just in time to see Sherry grab Kaze's hand and rush forward after Rua to the ice cream shop. I tried my best to keep my composure as I walked over to the other, hoping I wouldn't make a fool of myself.


	2. Betrayal and Injury

This part is based off of the third heart event for Ruka. If you've played through Sherry's heart events, then you'll see that she some what makes a habit out of sleeping in your characters room without telling him. And with that aside...

* * *

><p>"Hello there... Ah, Ruka, was it," the auburn haired boy asked as he walked up to me. He was wearing a blue uniform, which meant that he was at a higher rank than me. I think his name was Lucciano, but I was sort of drifting off during class, which was pretty unusual for me.<p>

"Yeah, that's me. And your Lucciano, right," I asked. The boy nodded. "Is there something you needed from me," I asked.

"Oh, I was wondering if you'd like to come with me to this coffee place in town. I heard it was rather good, but I don't really know the town that well since I just got here. Would you mind escorting me there tomorrow," Lucciano asked.

"Not at all," I smiled. I did the same thing for Kaze not too long ago, but that was because he pretty much had no friends, from what I saw, so I thought he needed some help.

"Ah, I'm grateful! Thank you! Would tomorrow at... How about at 10 we meet up at the Fountain Plaza and go from there," Lucciano asked.

"Sure thing," I said.

"But... Do you mind coming alone," Lucciano asked.

"Uh... I guess I could... I don't see why, but sure," I muttered.

"Thank you! I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," Lucciano smiled before running away.

* * *

><p>"Hello," I asked as I opened the door. For some reason, Kaze's door was unlocked, so I couldn't help but wander on in myself. There as no response, so I walked over to the tan bed sitting by the wall. Under the covers was Kaze, sleeping the day away as he usually did in his pajamas. I sat down next to him and shook his shoulder lightly. "Kaze? Are you awake," I asked. There was no response, causing me to sigh. "Your always oversleeping, you know that," I muttered. I felt a blush creep onto my face. I was alone in Kaze's room... And Kaze was sleeping in here. I felt a wave come over me and my hand subconsciously reached out to touch his head.<p>

"What do you think your doing," a female voice asked, causing me to jump about five feet into the air. I quickly turned and saw Sherry sitting on the couch.

"W-what are you doing here," I asked as my blush got deeper.

"I was sleeping until you came it. Its rather nice to sleep in, and I see why Kaze does it so much," Sherry said. "But I should ask you the same thing? What were you doing," Sherry asked as she crossed her arms.

"I.. I was... Uh.. Trying to wake him up," I said. Well, it wasn't a total lie...

"I see... Well, such gentle tactics probably won't work," Sherry muttered.

"But... Uh... What are you doing here...? Sleeping on Kaze's couch," I asked.

"Would you prefer that I sleep on the bed with him," Sherry asked, causing my blush to get even deeper, making my face red.

"W-what," I shouted. A smile swept across Sherry's face at my reaction.

"Here. I'll wake him up for you," Sherry said, shoving the topic she brought up aside as she stood up and walked over to Kaze. "Kaze! You've got company," Sherry shouted as she forcefully shook Kaze. A few seconds later, Kaze shot up looking frazzled.

"W-what? What is it," Kaze shouted.

"You've got company," Sherry repeated.

"W-what are you doing here," Kaze asked.

"Spending the night again," Sherry said. Again...?

"And what are you doing here, Ruka? Please don't tell me you were spending the night too," Kaze muttered.

"N-no! I was just wondering if you could come with me to meet up with Lucciano.. He.. He did say to be alone, but.. I'd feel better if you come along with me," I said. Sherry turned and walked back to the couch, but I could feel a smile reappear on her face.

"O-oh... Alright," Kaze muttered. "Just give me a minute to get dressed," Kaze said and stood up, picking up his day clothes before walking into the bath room. A few minutes later, Kaze walked back out dressed in his usual attire. Red hat, gray shirt, red jacket, blue jeans, and a golden necklace. "Well...? Let's go."

* * *

><p>"Ah, Ruka. There you are," Lucciano smiled. Lucciano looked at Kaze out of the corner of his eyes with somewhat disgust. "And who is this," Lucciano muttered.<p>

"I'm Kaze," Kaze said.

"He's a friend of mine! I brought him along because... He's a really good duelist too! I figured you two would like talking to each other and all that, but did I make a mistake in doing that," I asked.

"No, no. It's fine. You see, I brought my butler along too, Placcido," Lucciano said as he waved towards the black haired man next to him. "But on another note, I've heard some rumors that you have a really strong card. Are these true," Lucciano asked.

"Oh... Well... I have Ancient Fairy Dragon," I said. Ancient Fairy Dragon was a really strong friend to me, but to others, she might not seem like she's strong. But they don't know that she runs the spirit world.

"You don't say... Do you mind if I can see it," Lucciano asked.

"Uh.. Sure," I said and dug through my deck and pulled out the familiar Synchro Monster before turning it towards Lucciano.

"Hm.. The rumors are true. It seems very strong," Lucciano muttered. "Do you mind if I hold it," Lucciano asked. I was a little confused why he would want to hold it, but I saw nothing wrong with it, so I nodded. I started holding the card out when Kaze put his arm in front of me, causing me to step back a little.

"W-what is it," I asked.

"Don't give him the card," Kaze muttered.

"Why not," I asked. I honestly don't see what's wrong with it. He probably just wants to read her effect more clearly or something.

"Just fork over the card, Ruka," Lucciano growled, startling me even more. I quickly pulled Ancient Fairy Dragon back to my side and held her against my chest.

"What's gotten into you," I asked.

"Nothing! I just want that Synchro Monster, so fork it over," Lucciano shouted. My eyes widened as his duel academy uniform disappeared and two metal poles erupted out of no where, white cloth falling down from the bottom of it. Another piece of white cloth appeared on Lucciano's head, giving him a hood as a grey piece of metal appeared over his left eye with an infinity sign on it. A blue gem also appeared on his forehead. "Let's duel! And since you brought along your so called friend, let's make it a tag duel," Lucciano smirked.

"So that's why you brought me along," Placcido muttered as his butler uniform disappeared. A white robe appeared with a gray infinity sign around his neck, as well as a large green gem on his chest. A white hood also appeared on his head as a piece of metal appeared over his right eye with the same infinity mark on it. He also gained a scar under his left eye and a green gem on his forehead. I felt myself start shaking when a hand was placed on my shoulder, causing me to look up.

"Come on, Ruka! We can do this! Those guys are from Yliaster, I think... Based on what Sherry told me anyway," Kaze said.

"Yliaster," I asked. Didn't Yusei say something about Yliaster...?

"They're trying to destroy this city," Kaze said.

"Your friend is right! We're going to destroy this city to save the future," Lucciano sneered before breaking out in a shrill laugh. If they are trying to destroy Neo Domino... Then they're probably going to end up hurting the spirit world as well! I.. I can't let them do that!

"L-let's do it then," I said.

"Don't worry! I'll make sure that we beat them! I won't let them get your card," Kaze smiled, causing my cheeks to turn a light pink. With that aside, the duel started. As things started off, my hopes got up that we'd win. The only monsters that the ended up using were set face down, and when we attacked, they were automatically destroyed because some Machine Emperor wasn't on the field. But then when I attacked one face down, it turned out to be a monster called Wise Core.

"I activate Thunder Break! By discarding one card, I can destroy one card on the field! I chose my Wise Core," Placcido shouted. Why would he want to destroy his own monster...? His monster disappeared and a huge light erupted out of where it was. "When Wise Core is destroyed by an effect, I can summon one Machine Emperor Wisel Infinity, Wisel Top, Wisel Attack, Wisel Guard, and Wisel Carrier from my hand, Deck, or Graveyard," Placcido shouted. A bunch of machine parts flew out of the light and my eyes widened as they all flew together, creating a gigantic machine with 2500 attack and 2500 defense. None of my monsters were strong enough!

"Ruka! The monsters didn't combine! Attack the different parts," Kaze said. I nodded and turned to the monsters I had. The only monster that could attack was Kaze's Death Kangaroo. It had 1500 attack, which means that it could destroy the Wisel Guard. Due to his effect, he'd be forced to attack it anyway.

"I'll use Death Kangaroo to attack your Wisel Guard," I said. Death Kangaroo eagerly bounded forward and used a sky uppercut against the machine part, destroying it before jumping back to our side. "And that'll be all," I said.

"My turn then," Placcido muttered as he picked up his card. "I'll activate my face down, Claymore Dud. I pick two monsters and when one of them in destroyed, I destroy this card. When this card is destroyed both of the selected monsters are destroyed. I'll select your Death Kangaroo and Sunlight Unicorn," Placcido said. "Then I'll activate Cyclone from my hand to destroy Claymore Dud, destroying your monsters," Placcido shouted. My eyes widened as both of our monsters were blown up, leaving our field wide open. We weren't going to lose if we took this blow, because we were at 7500, but during the 500 they did deal to us, the blow was pretty much real. If 500 nearly swept me off my feet, I can't imagine what 2500 would do.. We didn't have any traps to stop them either. Those two were at 1000 life points though. "Machine Emperor Wisel Infinity! Attack them directly," Placcido shouted as he pointed towards us. I quickly slammed my eyes shut and braced myself for the blow that would come, but all I felt was a pretty light shove. I slowly opened my eyes, but they shot open when they saw Kaze laying limply against the fountain.

"Kaze," I shouted.

"Aw! Isn't that sweet! He shoved you out of the way," Lucciano smirked before breaking into shrill hysterics. I quickly ran over to Kaze's side.

"Kaze! Kaze, say something," I insisted as I lightly shook him by his shoulders. There was no response and tears quickly brimmed in my eyes. I clenched his hand in mine before shakily standing up and turning back to the duel, my front claw mark shining even more then it had before. Both of the Yliaster members had smirks on their face, although Lucciano's was much wider.

"I'll leave it off at that," Placcido said.

"My turn," I muttered as I picked up my card. "I activate Defense Seal in order to change you Wisel Carrier from defense to attack," I said as I threw the card into my duel disk. "Then I'll activate Raise Dead to bring back Kaze's Berserk Gorilla," I continued as I threw the other spell into my duel disk as well. The red gorilla appeared in front of me and gave a loud roar, sending flames flying from its mouth, which slowly disappeared. "Attack Wisel Carrier," I shouted as I pointed to the monster that would lead me to victory. Placcido didn't even move to stop the attack, if he could, and let Berserk Gorilla charge through his monster. Their life points dropped the zero and they deactivate their duel disks, still wearing a smug look.

"Well, have fun with your little friend," Lucciano grinned before making more shrill laughs and disappearing with Placcido. I ran back over to Kaze's side and tried to shake him into moving once more, but he didn't move. It was at that point that I saw a cut across his chest. It wasn't severely deep, but it still made tons of tears form in my eyes. It was all my fault.. If.. If I would have gotten better cards and had a better strategy.. I could have stopped them from summoning their monsters... I quickly took Kaze's jacket off and placed it over his wound, not wanting to see it more than I had to. What else what I going to do..? We were no where near a doctor, and I couldn't drag him anywhere without probably agitating the wound. So I just rested Kaze against the ground before standing up. If I found my way to Yusei's, he could find some help! I felt hope fill my heart as I heard a familiar d-wheel sound. I quickly turned, expecting Yusei when I saw that it was Sherry pulling to a stop.

"What happened here? I saw the Yliaster-," Sherry started as she pulled her purple helmet. She froze when she saw Kaze. She quickly dropped her helmet and rushed over to us. "What happened," Sherry shouted. Guilt welded up inside me and I couldn't get words out as Sherry kept her eyes on me. Seeing as I wasn't going to respond, turned back to Kaze, easily picking him up and rushing over to her d-wheel.

"W.. What are you doing," I managed to say, although my voice was wavering.

"Taking him to a doctor. You'd be best to get home," Sherry said as she put her helmet back on and pressed the side button, making her orange visor appear before her d-wheel roared to life and shot off. The guilt inside me got even more heavy, as did my tears. I quickly ran off so that I could go to my room and let all my emotions run freely. On my run, lots of thoughts ran through my head. So much that it nearly gave me a head ache. But one thought stuck to me and caused my tears to get even heavier. After this little event.. It was without a doubt... Kaze would never want to see me again, and that I could never work up the nerve to see him either.

* * *

><p>I always thought that for facing two emperors of Yliaster, the hat guy and Ruka got off pretty easy wound wise. Didn't the machine emperors totally peg off someone like a psychic duelist..? Didn't they make people crash and get into huge wrecks and all that? So that's what sort of inspired this change. And all of the cards that I used are the Japanese card names, since I'm using the Japanese character names. I also used the anime version of the Machine Emperors, because the whole any card is destroyed by an effect and you get this kick butt card sort of didn't float with me, so I used the five pieces. So the english names of the cards I used are (I'm only listing them if they are different from the japanese ones) :<p>

Japanese - English  
>Defense Seal - Stop Defense<br>Thunder Break - Raigeki Break  
>Death Kangaroo - Des Kangaroo<br>Machine Emperor Wisel Infinity - Meklord Emperor Wisel  
>Claymore Dud - Widespread Dud<br>Cyclone - Mystical Space Typhoon  
>Raise Dead - Monster Reborn<p>

And I think that's all there is. The rest should be both Japanese and English names. But you'll notice that Ruka seems pretty melancholy at the end, but she's like that on the fourth event as well. Even in the game Lucciano is only there for a few days, Ruka still seemed to take it sort of hard and made her really melancholy like, adding the fact that she blames herself for any type of injury that the hat guy received sort of tips her over.


	3. Visit

"Ruka! What do you want to eat," Rua asked with a huge grin on his face.  
>"Nothing," I muttered.<br>"What! What do you mean nothing," Rua shouted.  
>"I'm just not hungry, okay," I mumbled. "Eat what you want. I'm going to my room," I said as I stood up and staggered up the stairs. It was only six at night, but I was dead tired. I couldn't sleep a wink because I'd always have a dream about what happened only a few days ago... Regardless, I'd have to sit down and at least try again. If I didn't get any sleep I wouldn't be able to focus in class and I'd end up failing... I dragged myself to my dresser and picked out some pajamas, not really caring if they matched or not. I threw them on before falling on to my bed. Sometimes I'd close my eyes, but I'd never fall asleep, out of fear of having the dream. Before I knew it, Rua came up the stairs, which meant it was probably around ten at night. He tried to be quiet, thinking I was asleep, but he kept stumbling over the toys in his room. I honestly didn't care about his messy room now, since he usually ignores it in hope that I'll end up cleaning it up for him. I tried to get to sleep once more, but once again, I couldn't. I reluctantly sat up and turned to my clock and saw that it was now 5 in the morning. If it was 5, then there was no chance of me getting any sleep... Might as well get something done. I turned on the lamp that was on my night stand before I picked up a recent chapter book that I got as a present from my parents, who sent it through the mail, and started reading it. They at least got something within my tastes, which was a type of fairy tale. I hardly even started it, so I might as well read it until Rua woke up... Which would probably be around 10. By the time I hit the eleventh chapter, I heard a knock on my door. I looked up from my book as the door opened, showing Rua in his usual day clothes, where as he usually wore his pajamas until we absolutely had to get changed.<br>"Ruka. Get ready," Rua said.  
>"Why..? We don't have school today," I muttered before turning back to my book. Without even looking at him, I'd know what he'd do. Rua puffed his cheeks before stomping over to my bed.<br>"Come on, Ruka! Get up! We have to go somewhere today," Rua shouted.  
>"Where," I asked.<br>"It doesn't matter! So up up up," Rua shouted. I rolled my eyes but put my bookmark back into my book and set it on my night stand. "Fine... I'll go, so leave me alone for a while, will you," I mumbled. Rua eagerly ran out of the room as I stood up and started getting dressed.  
>"Come ON! We don't have all day," Rua called out as I exited my room. I sighed, but put a little more effort into walking faster. "Finally! I thought you were gonna be hours," Rua moaned as I stopped next to him. I just sighed again and looked away. Rua remained silent for a moment before grabbing my wrist and dragging me off. I didn't bother to protest. What was the point anyway? If he had his mind set on something, I couldn't stop him. I let myself drift off into my thoughts, which really consisted of nothing. When I finally got my attention back, I noticed that we were in a hospital. More accurately, a hall of a hospital.<br>"What are we doing here," I asked. Rua just opened the door and walked in, not letting go of my wrist. I felt pain wrench through my body as I saw who we were visiting. Kaze as laying on the bed, Sherry sitting in the chair next to him.  
>"Hey Kaze, Sherry," Rua said. Kaze looked towards us and slowly sat up. Or he started to.<br>"Stay laying down, Kaze. It'd be best to obey the doctor," Sherry said, causing Kaze to lay back down.  
>"Right... So, what are you guys doing here," Kaze asked with a slight smile on his face. For once, he had his hat off, finally giving me a clear view of his face. Most of the time, I couldn't even see above his nose because of the way his hat was tilted. Now I could see sapphire eyes sparkling weakly in our direction. He didn't seem to have any sort of spite in his voice or anything.<br>"Well... You see... Ruka here has been acting differently," Rua said as he finally let go of my wrist.  
>"Why would you say that," Sherry asked.<br>"She hasn't eaten anything, and she hasn't had anything to drink since she got home two days ago! She's always sighing and staring off into space, and she hasn't been sleeping," Rua said.  
>"What makes you think that," I muttered.<br>"Well, you have bags under your eyes," Rua pointed out.  
>"I wasn't tired. That's all," I mumbled. The room went silent and I sighed.<br>"See," Rua insisted.  
>"I'm fine... Really. Let's just leave Kaze be," I said as I looked at the wall out of the corner of my eye, not bothering or caring to make eye contact with anyone.<br>"But your acting real strange! I just want to help," Rua said. I didn't respond and Rua went silent as he turned to Kaze. "I know how you two are real close friends and all... So can you help her out," Rua asked.  
>"Its probably about yesterday," Kaze said.<br>"Uh... Lucciano," Rua asked. Kaze nodded. "I tried to tell her he was no good, but _no_," Rua said. The room went silent once more. "So... Uh... I was wondering if you could try and cheer her up," Rua said.  
>"I can give it a go, but if she doesn't want to be happy, that's her choice," Kaze said. Rua nodded.<br>"Thanks Kaze," Rua grinned before darting out of the room, promptly getting a scolding from a nurse.  
>"Hmm.. I'll give you two some alone time to talk about this then," Sherry said before getting up and walking out of the room. Kaze and I went silent, not being able to think of a word to say.<br>"Uh... So," Kaze trailed off.  
>"You don't have to do this," I said.<br>"Do what," Kaze asked.  
>"Act like your like me," I said.<br>"I'm not acting," Kaze said. I turned from the wall to him, searching in his eyes and trying to see if he was lying or not. But this was my first time seeing his eyes, so I didn't know how to read them. I promptly got a light blush, but fought back most of it. Both of us went silent once more as my heart rate increased. Of course he was mad at me. He was just saying that because he's trying to be nice... He has to be mad at me.. Its my fault he is in the hospital, for Pete's sake! He could at least be honest with me... And now that he hates me... He's obviously going to go with Sherry. There was no point in staying here. I let my spirit drift from my body, causing it promptly to fall to the ground. "Ruka," I heard Kaze shout before I was in the Spirit World. I took my time walking to the Ancient Forest. Once I was there, I'd be free to stay here, forever away from the world and with the spirits I love... I'd only have a few minutes of such fanciful thinking before I heard footsteps. I slowly turned and instantly shrunk back at what I saw. Regulus and Kaze, who was still in his hospital gown and leaning heavily against Regulus.  
>"W.. Why are you here," I asked hoarsely.<br>"Ruka. You need to go home," Regulus said. "This young man here came to pick you up," Regulus said and pointed towards Kaze with his nose.  
>"I... I'm not going home," I said.<br>"Why not," Kaze asked.  
>"I.. There's no... No reason to go back," I muttered.<br>"You have plenty... Rua... Your parents... Your friends," Kaze said.  
>"But I don't want any of that," I snapped. "I... I just... I want someone like... Uh... You know. Aki and Yusei... Like... they both feel that way," I muttered. Kaze and Regulus shot each other a glance, both confused. The two started whispering things to each other and I felt my heart pound harder and my face get more red. I.. probably shouldn't have said it. I kept staring at the two and a blush crept onto Kaze's face as the two kept whispering to each other. I put my hand across my stomach, grabbing my other arm lightly, trying to not look at them now. Of course, I couldn't help it.<br>"Alright... So then... Ah... Ruka, you duel Kaze," Regulus said.  
>"Why," I asked.<br>"If... if you win... you can stay here. If I win, you come back," Kaze said, who wasn't as good as I was at getting rid of my blush.  
>"Fine," I said. Of course, my will to stay here was crumbling by the second now that I got my secret out. If I got Kaze out of here, then I'd be able to clear my head back out and remember why I wanted to stay here in the first place...<br>"Duel!"

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><p>Reviews:<p>

bryan102694: I'd have to think for a while on that. I've seen some nasty comments about Rua suddenly becoming a signer on YouTube, so adding another signer to the bunch might get some negative feedback... In World Championship 2008, I believe, the player becomes an artificial signer, and most people didn't seem to mind that... I'll have to mull over it.

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><p>Notes:<p>

In the next chapter I'll actually put in a full duel for you, since I didn't yet. I'll pull out my Tag Force 5 game out and duel Ruka and just write down what happens so its realistic and not like the anime where they pull a miracle card out of no where with magical powers... So it may take a little longer than usual to get the next chapter up, so apologies in advance.


	4. Recovery

"I'll take the lead," Kaze said as he picked up his card. "I summon Chain Dog in attack mode," Kaze continued as he put the card on his duel disk, causing the spotted dog with chains around it to appear. [Attack/ 1600 Def/ 1100] "I'll finish my turn with two face downs," Kaze said before returning to leaning against Regulus instead of using him to help him up when he needed it. I silently drew my card and looked over some of my spirit friends.

"I'll summon Sunlight Unicorn in attack," I said. A white unicorn with blue flames on its body appeared in front of me and trotted in a circle before going to a rest. [Attack/ 1800 Def/ 1000] "Then I'll activate her effect. I can pick one card up, and if its an equip spell, I can add it to my hand. If not, it goes to the bottom of my deck," I said as I picked the card up. I showed Kaze the Messenger of Peace to let him know that it truly wasn't an equip card before putting it to the bottom of my deck.

"Trap Activate. Thunder Break. I can discard one card to destroy one card. I'll discard Fusion to destroy Sunlight Unicorn," Kaze said as he put the spell in the Cemetery. As soon as he did, a large bolt of lightning came out of no where and struck my monster. She writhed in pain for a second before exploding to bits, as every monster did when it was destroyed.

"I'll end my turn with one face down," I muttered. Kaze picked up his hard and I flung my hand out.

"Trap Activate! Thunder Break," I shouted. Kaze chuckled a little at the irony of both of us having it. As a matter of fact, it was one of his cards. We sat down one day and he helped me with my deck and cards that would help me win. If I hadn't done that with him, I'd probably lose the duel this turn. And I might still. My field was barren now. "I'll discard Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird to destroy your Chain Dog," I said, promptly discard this card as Kaze's monster went through the same fate as mine.

"I'll summon Rescue Cat in attack then," Kaze said. A small gray and white cat wearing a miner helmet appeared in front of him, happily mewling until it saw that it was called to battle and tried to put a fierce front, but it was a small cat. "I'll use Rescue Cat's effect. By sending her to the Cemetery, I can special summon two level three or lower beast-type monsters," Kaze said. Rescue Cat quickly lunged into the air and disappeared into a puff of smoke. "I chose Lock Cat and X-Saber Airbellum," Kaze said. When the smoke faded, it revealed a white and red cat with a lock in its mouth and an orange wolverine with battle armor and extremely long claws. "Attack Ruka directly," Kaze shouted, seeming to regain his strength back. X-Saber Airbellum lunged first. it easily sliced me, but unlike the duel with Lucciano and Primo, these hits weren't real. His claws faded through me and left a slightly stinging feeling that disappeared after a while. [Ruka: 2400 LP] "And with his effect, we'll discard one card at random from your hand... So let's discard the middle card," Kaze said. I discarded the car and Kaze sighed with relief when he saw it. Lightning Vortex. If I would have discarded another card, his whole field of monster would have been gone. But then again, they'd be gone by the End Phase due to Rescue Cat's drawback. But by his reaction, that meant he had another monster coming. Lock Cat attacked, seeing as it's partner was done. She sailed over to me and raked her claws against me, bringing the stinging feeling back, but it also disappeared. [Ruka: 1200 LP] "I tune my two monsters together! _He who was born from the blizzards of the past! Break your frozen shackles and freeze all who dare get in your path! Synchro Summon, Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Boundary_," Kaze shouted. His X-Saber turned into three green rings in which Lock Cat flew threw. There was a bright flash and when it disappeared, Kaze's Ace Monster, Brionac appeared. It was a large sea serpent made entirely of ice, and as soon as it appeared, the air instantly got a little colder. Not to the point where it'd be freezing, but you could notice the change. Despite that, Brionac still made some fog when he breathed. "That'll be all," Kaze said. I drew my card and sighed. Even if I threw my two traps down, and summoned my monster, during his next turn, he'd have three cards in his hand, instantly returning them to my hand and letting him end the duel. I put my hand on my deck and smiled slightly.

"You win," I said as the monsters and cards disappeared from the field due to my surrender. Both of us put our cards back in our decks and Kaze walked over to me, having a slight limp. "If you truly want to stay here... you can," Kaze said.

"Then why'd you duel me," I asked.

"Because I wanted you to see I was right," Kaze muttered.

"I guess I see your point... I do have a reason to go back," I muttered.

"Not only that," Kaze said, causing me to look up at him. "I.. I do like you..."

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><p>I slowly opened my eyes, but quickly shut them due to a quick pain from the light. After I few seconds I was able to open my eyes without them hurting, and I saw I was back in the hospital, but I was on a bed. I quickly sat up and looked around, surprised to see Sherry and Rua on the chairs along the wall. "Ah! Ruka," Rua shouted and jumped off his chair and rushed to my side. Without giving me a chance to say anything, he broke out into a rant. "I thought you were going to the Spirit World again or something! But like, you'd never come back! I mean, Kaze disappeared and then you were unconscious on the floor! And then all of a sudden Kaze poofs back! It was so weird," Rua rambled.<p>

"We put you up on the spare bed though. Your brother wouldn't stop panicking and screaming about how you'd never come back. He only stopped when a nurse came by and made him be quiet," Sherry said.

"The thing is... we did go to the Spirit World," I muttered.

"We," Rua asked.

"Me and Kaze," I said, turning to the bed across from me. I saw that Kaze was sitting up as well, but leaning against the back of the bed in case he needed it.

"Man! You guys are _so_ cool! I wish _I_ could see the spirits too," Rua shouted. A bunch of 'Shhh's came from outside the room and Rua looked away sheepishly. "Ah.. Sorry," Rua muttered. "But I brought you your favorite toy! I thought you'd like having it," Rua grinned and ran back to his chair, picking up my stuffed Regulus before running back and handing it to me.

"Thanks... Rua," I muttered and hugged the plush toy close to my chest, thanking him in my head for bringing Kaze to me.

"Ruka... About what you said earlier," Kaze muttered with a slight blush.

"Don't worry about it," I smiled. "I think I already have that person in my life. But whether it takes a few days or years for him to see me that way, I'll wait patiently for him," I continued as I gained a blush of my own, not caring to push it back.

"What are you two yappin' about," Rua asked.

"Nothing... Its nothing, Rua," I muttered as I looked away. Nobody said anything and I fought my blush back down so I could look at Sherry with a straight face. She actually knew what we were talking about, unlike Rua. Do to that fact, one train of thought ran through both of our heads... We were rivals. Whoever won would win Kaze. I'd have my hands full on this. Not only was Sherry nearing the same age as Kaze, she was much more pretty than me... Or at least when she wanted to be. If she was angry or something, things weren't that pretty.

"Ruka? Sherry? What is it," Rua asked and quickly looked back and forth between Sherry and me.

"Nothing. I've just found another adversary," Sherry smiled.

"W-what! N-not Ruka, right," Rua said, nearing a shout.

"Of course not," Sherry said, but her eyes said differently.

"I'd hope not! I can't have my friends fighting, now can I," Kaze said before laughing, obviously not seeing the signs either.

"Of course... We wouldn't like that, now would we," Sherry asked and looked at me out of the corner of her eye, sending a chill down my spine. Rua saw my reaction and moved closer to me.

"After that little incident in the Spirit World, I think my wounds better.. At least enough for me to move about," Kaze said as he slowly put his legs over the side of the bed. Sherry got off her chair and walked over to his and placed a hand on his chest, causing him to wince.

"I don't think you are. If a little tap can do that, your in no condition to even stand," Sherry said as she returned her hand to her side.

"If Rua or Ruka tapped me I'd be fine... Your strong," Kaze muttered.

"Gravity is much stronger than me," Sherry murmured. Kaze sighed but his eyes widened when Sherry held her hand out to him. "But I'm sure you'll manage if such a _strong_ person like me is by your side," Sherry teased, causing Kaze to smile before taking her hand and getting up onto his feet. Sherry didn't let go of his hand, and Kaze didn't seem like he was going to protest about it any time soon, probably due to the fact that he didn't want to fall face first into the ground if he got a sudden hit of pain. But still, seeing the two hand in hand made me sick, and I didn't move until Rua nudged me to get off the bed in order to follow the two teens out of the room so Kaze could be checked out of the hospital.

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><p>Cards and Terms:<br>Japanese Name = English Name

Cemetary = Graveyard  
>Thunder Break = Raigeki Break<br>Fusion = Polymerization  
>Brionic, Dragon of the Ice Boundary = Brionic, Dragon of the Ice Barrier<p>

The rest of the cards are the english names, as far as my knowledge goes.

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><p>Notes:<p>

- The Synchro Phrase was a pain to come up with. I couldn't think of one at all... If you have a better one, feel free to suggest it. But aside from that, if you haven't figured out Kaze's Deck Theme, its a modification of the starting deck, which is meant to deliver a quick win. The deck monsters revolve around Beast or Earth types, but the Extra Deck monsters revolve around getting the quick punch in or the upper hand, with cards like Brionic, Red Demons Dragon, Stardust, Black Feather, and all of those cards. If anyone actually wants to see a full deck list, I can put it up with the next chapter.

- The Regulus toy and dialogue after was somewhat based off of the last event's picture. Rua probably would have ran home to get the toy in hopes that it would help encourage Ruka to come back from the Spirit World, but... Not really working there...

- The single duels will be 4000 LP, as in the anime, but during the tag duels, their life points will combine to 8000, as it is in the game, unless there is a circumstance change.

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><p>Reviews:<p>

bryan102694: That's a little harsh xD I was actually debating with some scenarios to be honest. I have about 5 different scenarios that I could use after this, but I'm picking one that will be most realistic and not a mary sue like thing. Its got to have a build up, and not like he's drinking coffee and then bam he's got the mark. This might not happen if I like the ones without it happening because the characters are more true to their personality, then I'll go with them and it won't happen. It all depends on which scenario is better.


	5. Promises

I ran back over the episode lists, and I figured that most of the episodes would pretty much be the same up to episode 116, which is where the story will catch up at. If you do not watch the anime, or watch the dub version, here the wikipedia list of them, and if you click the episode, it'll give you a pretty in depth summary of the episodes - .com/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_5D%27s_episode_listing_%28season_2%29 The only change that would occur would probably be for the Crash Town incident, it'd probably follow Kiryu's events, but since this story is from Ruka's point of view, most of that stuff wouldn't be seen. Also, someone requested that I add another space between the lines, which is why you'll see that I did. If anyone else has a problem about this, I can try and change it again.

* * *

><p>Rua silently turned on the light, causing Yeager to wince, as I had days before in the hospital, due to the sudden light. Once his eyes adjusted, he quickly jumped back against his chair, seeing all of us standing there. Us being all of Team 5Ds plus Kaze and Sherry. It took us a while to catch the Vice-Director in order to get our answers about Yliaster, but it all payed off, in my opinion. Yeager laughed nervously and softly, but he instantly went quiet as a card was thrown and lodged itself not even an inch away from his head, thrown by none other than Sherry LeBlanc. "Please tell us what you know," Sherry said, but the tone she used obviously meant 'Do it, or next time I don't miss'. Yeager slowly pulled the card away from the chair and looked at it for a second before placing it on the table and gulping.<p>

"I... I understand," Yeager mumbled and eyed the table, seeing a cup of Red Demon Noodles. He slowly picked it up, as if making sure to be cautious in case another card was going to be thrown and gingerly pulled it next to him before continuing. "It all started... with cup ramen," Yeager muttered.

"And how does this have to do with Yliaster," Kaze mumbled. I shrugged lightly before turning back to Yeager.

"My family runs a small tent on the outskirts of town... But few to none people came and visited... And so you see, our food supply was very short," Yeager trailed off and started opening the cup ramen. I quickly jumped back when Jack slammed his hands on the table.

"Hey! That's our last cup! Give it here," Jack shouted, but before he could continue, Yusei put a hand on his shoulder, causing Jack to turn to him. Yusei gave a slight shake of his head and Jack clenched his fists before turning around, crossing his arms against his chest, obviously not happy with the sacrifice. Tiny tears filled in his eyes when he heard Yeager wolf down the Cup Ramen in not even ten seconds.

"Ah.. As I was saying. Back then, the first Cup Ramen I had... it was bought by my mother.. It was so expensive that she had to sell our stage costumes, but.. It was the best ramen I've had," Yeager shouted, tears overflowing. Kaze shot me a glance, probably wondering if he was serious, and I couldn't help but agree with him. What did cup ramen have to do with Yliaster...? Before Yeager could continue with his Cup Ramen tale Kaze walked up to the table and slammed his hand on it, catching Yeager's attention.

"Cut to the point, Vice-Director! Yliaster is targeting some of my closest friends, so I won't allow you to drift from the topic and waste my time," Kaze snapped, causing Yeager to jump back.

"He has a point. What does this have to deal with Yliaster," Yusei asked. I shot a glance at Sherry and saw that she was returning a fist to her side, but was smiling slightly, as if she was approving of Kaze's sudden boldness. Yeager was probably glad that it was Kaze attacking the problem though, because it seemed like Sherry was just about to herself. The Vice-Director probably would have gotten hurt, but...

"Ah.. Of course, I'll get back to the topic," Yeager said as he started sweating again. Kaze slowly walked away to the back of our mob, and I saw that he was sweating as well. No doubt it was because it was probably one of his first times being aggressive like that. He was usually pretty passive and didn't get in someone's face like that, which gave him a calm aura. "So, after that day... I swore that my family would get their fill in Cup Ramen. And so, I went and worked for the Public Security Burea, where I worked myself up to become Director Goodwin's secretary, and eventually the Vice-Director. So then, I was able to give tons of Cup Ramen to my entire family," Yeager trailed off. Kaze started going up front so he could make him get back to the topic once more, but Sherry already was up there and grabbed the Vice Director by the collar of his shirt and hoisted him into the air.

"I'm waiting here to hear about Yliaster, not about your life story," Sherry snapped. Kaze put a hand on her shoulder as Yusei had done with Jack and Sherry instantly let go, causing Yeager to clatter into his chair, bug eyed from what happened. This time, Kaze walked back with Sherry to her spot, probably to keep an eye on her so she wouldn't tear Yeager to shreds if he drifted from the topic again.

"Why don't you want to tell us about Yliaster," Bruno asked.

"Well... to be honest... I don't want to put my family in danger," Yeager muttered.

"You do know Sherry will probably do a whole lot worse than Yliaster if you don't tell us," Kaze chuckled softly. Yeager looked at Sherry out of the corner of his eyes to see if he was right, and Sherry just glared at him, causing him to sweat even more than he was before. "But.. look. Yliaster is trying to destroy the world," Kaze muttered, causing Yeager's eyes to go wide.

"What," Yeager shouted.

"And if they get what they want, your family won't be able to eat Cup Ramen in peace. No one will. Not even the most simplest things in the world," Yusei said. Yeager remained silent for a minute, obviously having something on his mind, and nobody said anything.

"I understand. This time, I will tell you about Yliaster."  
>-<p>

"What? That's all," Kaze asked.

"Y-yes. I swear to you, that's all I know," Yeager said. "I-is that a problem with that," Yeager asked.

"We know more than that," Yusei said, causing me to turn to him. "It happened when they showed themselves to us during their rampage," Yusei muttered. Of course, since I didn't have a d-wheel, I wasn't allowed to go out, but based off of what I was told, not too long ago, Placcido went and attacked the city with an army of Ghosts, which were robot duelists. Yusei dueled against Placcido while Kaze and the others fended off Ghosts from the city. Yusei won his duel and Lucciano and Jose appeared. By that time, Crow, Jack, and Kaze all managed to catch up with Yusei. The Yliaster members told them they were going to destroy Neo Domino and right the wrongs of the world, thus saving it. Sherry ended up attacking them but got beaten away, only for her butler to save her from falling to her death in the water.

"They're going to destroy Neo Domino," Crow said.

"So do you see why we have to stop them," Kaze asked. Yeager nodded.

"Then.. there's one other thing I can do to help," Yeager said, causing us all to go quiet once more. "The phone," Yeager muttered.

"What about it," Sherry asked.

"I once received a call from the company who sent the three directors. I don't remember the name off hand, but its stored in the data base," Yeager muttered.

"Then lead the way," Kaze said. Yeager quickly nodded and stood up, and we followed him all the way to the place where the data base apparently was. The Arcade. If you ask me, I think he just wanted to escape our interrogation and play games, but the others seemed to have faith in him, for the most part. It was a pretty ingenious place though. All the secrets of the city in a place where you play games... In truth, this was the last place I'd check. Yeager entered a few codes in, and it started up a duel.

"See, you have three tries to beat 2 simulated duels. If you fail three times, the PC will kick you out," Yeager said before starting the duel, promptly losing a minute later for not winning on the first turn. I turned to Kaze, who seemed like he was deep in thought.

"Let me try," Aki said. Yusei nodded, and she sat down for the duel. To no surprise, she won the duel.

"Nice job," Yusei smiled as Aki got out of the seat.

"Leave the least one to me," Jack grinned before jumping in the seat. Same as Yeager, he lost a minute later. When he did, he instantly got into a fight with Crow about which one was the bigger idiot until Yeager, of all people, broke it up.

"We have one chance left," Sherry murmured.

"The duel needs a special type of combo," Jack sighed.

"No, you did the right thing at first," Kaze muttered, causing all of us to turn to him. "But you used the effects of Speed World 2 way too fast, Jack... You need to," Kaze trailed off, seeing as we were all looking at him. "Ah.. How about I just do, rather than say," Kaze asked.

"I have no objections," Sherry said. Everyone else nodded and Kaze sat down at the machine, and as Aki had done, won the duel.

"The key to these duels is going through every scenario and not rush through as you would in a normal duel, because you have all the turns you need then," Kaze said as he pushed up the handle bar and exited the machine. "But now... Yeager, it should be unlocked, correct," Kaze asked. Yeager quickly nodded and ran back over to the machine, quickly pressing the screen's buttons. When he was done, the screen was filled with 0's and 1's, which slowly faded until it revealed a business sign. I wouldn't have known what it was without the letters at the bottom.

"The Momentum Express Development Organization," Yusei muttered. Everyone went silent. "That means that these guys are connected with Yliaster," Yusei said.

"Which also means that they're our target," Bruno said.

"So what are we going to do," I asked.

"Its obvious. We're sneaking into the Momentum Express and we're figuring out what we need," Sherry said as she crossed her arms.

"But all of us would be too obvious. We should only have a few of us," Kaze pointed out. Yusei nodded.

"Sherry, Bruno, Kaze, and I will go and infiltrate the Momentum Express, then. The rest of you guys should stay back in case something does happen. Are there any objections," Yusei asked. Of course I had objections, since Yusei phrased it like they were going into war or something, but Rua gave me a calming look, which reinstalled my faith that they would be fine. Besides that, no one said anything or did anything. "Alright... Then we'll head out tomorrow," Yusei said. With that, everyone started pouring out of the arcade, except for Kaze and me, due to the fact that I had my hand around his wrist.

"What is it," Kaze asked.

"I... I," I mumbled, my face getting hot. I gulped, hoping it would help me get my words out, but it actually made it worse. So, we just sat there. Kaze was silent because he was waiting for me to say something, and I was silent because I couldn't work up the nerve to say what I wanted too.

"Oh! I get it! You want help with the duel puzzles on the machine," Kaze smiled.

"R.. Right... Rua always plays those games, and he can never get them... I can't either, so do you mind helping," I asked.

"Of course not! Which problem was it," Kaze asked as he walked back over to the machine. I didn't respond. I mean, how could I? Rua never did play anything like this, and I didn't know how they were divided.

"Uh.. The first one," I asked. Kaze nodded and pressed away at the buttons.

"Please... don't get hurt tomorrow," I mumbled, finally getting the courage to speak now that his attention was away. Or so I though.

"I'm just going to a building. Not much can happen," Kaze said, causing me to blush once more.

"B-but the way Yusei put it," I trailed off. "Just... promise me you'll be safe," I asked. Kaze turned to me.

"If I get hurt, then you can take my hat for a week," Kaze smiled, causing my eyes to widen. Kaze going without his hat if he didn't have to was like Jack actually getting a job. "But you don't have problems with these duels, do you," Kaze asked. I sheepishly nodded and Kaze was about to say something when we heard footsteps. Pretty loud ones.

"Ruka," a familiar voice screamed. I turned and saw Rua running as fast as he could over to us. "What happened! I was so worried when I didn't see you guys! I had to run all the way back here," Rua shouted.

"We weren't even gone for a minute. How far could you have gotten," Kaze asked.

"I started running home because I thought Ruka was coming when I noticed she wasn't there, so I bolted back here in case you guys got lost," Rua said.

"I just... wanted Kaze's... advice," I said.

"About what," Rua asked, as if sensing that I didn't want to talk about it.

"About some duel puzzles," Kaze said.

"Ha! Those are so easy," Rua grinned, eager to prove that he was the better twin, even though in my opinion, he was.

"Alright, let's see you do these on the first try," Kaze said as he stood up. Rua eagerly jumped onto the machine and started the duel up, and I couldn't help but smile.

* * *

><p>Notes:<p>

- I'm going to take a guess that if the Yugioh Tag Force 6 is about 5Ds (which I've heard that it is) during Sherry's events, you'd probably be a part of her team, because they only have two duelists and they were constantly hounding Yusei to join their team for a while. So for the story, I'm putting Kaze on her team, but he didn't duel during the first round due to his injury.

- Whenever I do the duel puzzles, I sit there and go through every possibility in my head.. I might be the only one who does this, but I figure the Hat Guy would do something like this for a duel puzzle. (Since when your Hat Guy, he can never lose due to the lovely try again option, he'd probably have to have a pretty smart head)

-Regardless of the fact that in this story, the hat guy talks, I still think he would have a sort of shyness, where he would rarely have an outburst, but since Sherry gets pretty violent when she wants her answers, he probably figured he better pull his barrings together and try to get Yeager back on track, knowing that Sherry would have done if he didn't, which is why he snapped, for the most part. Just thought I'd get that out there.

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><p>Reviews:<p>

bryan102694: Wait, when do you duel Goodwin in Tag Force 4 o-o' I think I've beaten every main characters' story.. Do you mean World Championship 2010, because you get the Head Mark instead of Yusei in there... But you don't have the mark in Tag Force 4, do you? For your making the sentances further apart questions, I just added another break between speakers, but besides that, I'm not really going to do it on every other lines. I'll just put two breaks instead of one when someone changes speakers, if that's alright with you.


	6. Infiltration

This chapter is told from Kaze's point of view because, if you've seen the episode this takes after, all Ruka does is sit at Yusei's and clean... or at least tries to. After this, it'll be back to Ruka's, and will probably stay that way for a while. Also, due to the new system of adding the break, when there's a new paragraph, there's three breaks if you can't tell.

* * *

><p>"Here we are.. This is where we'll find clues about Yliaster," Yusei muttered.<p>

"And also my parents' killers," Sherry muttered. I turned to her and saw she had her fists clenched tightly, but I had to do my best to stay in character, which was a Bolger and Company delivery man. If we acted in a way that sent a flare that we weren't who we were, then they might kick us out or worse.

"Ah. You must be from Bolger and Company," a voice said, causing us to quickly turn. "Ah.. Mr," the blond man trailed off.

"I'm Daniel. These are my co-workers, Timothy, Eva, and James," Yusei said and pointed towards who he was talking about as he listed us off. Bruno was Timothy, Sherry was Eva, and I was James.

"I see. I'm the one in charge here, Clark," the man said as he walked over to us. Sherry froze and I looked towards her out of the corner of my eyes.

"Have we met somewhere before," Sherry asked.

"No, I don't believe so," Clark said with a mixture of a smirk and a smile, but more of a smile.

"I see.. I'm sorry," Sherry muttered.

"Well, let's go to the course," Clark said and walked away.

"You know him," I asked in a whisper.

"Maybe," Sherry smiled before walking off after Clark, in which I quickly caught up. We all got on and escalator, but it stopped when we were half way up.

"You see, I'm often the one to get up and get Infinity running," Clark said as he turned to us before walking the rest of the way up.

"Infinity," Yusei asked under his breath. We all shot each other a glance and the escalator booted back up. We followed him all the way to a large hall, where he motioned towards the windows. Because he didn't say anything, we took it we were supposed to look through the window. When we did, we saw a huge circle that was filled with all the colors of the rainbow, electricity sparking every so often over it. A huge door closed over it and we turned back to Clark.

"This is the Infinity," Clark explained.

"Its huge," Bruno muttered.

"What exactly does this machine do," Yusei asked.

"Infinity is a matter transfer device currently being studied by our company," Clark said as he turned back to the window. "In this machine, the Planetary Particles start to run at high speed to create a dimensional distortion. It then creates a wormhole that is used to transfer material. If we continue to work on this, we may no longer need to launch rockets to space," Clark continued. He paused and turned to Yusei. "What is it, Mr. Daniel," Clark asked, we all turned to Yusei and followed his gaze, seeing him looking at a door. It seemed pretty important and had 'Level 10' written on the floor beside it.

"Its nothing," Yusei muttered.

"Well then, I'll finish taking you to the course. There, you can test out the engine and d-wheel," Clark said. We nodded and he lead us to a small room covered in computers and giving us a large view of a bunch of pipe like structures, obviously the course. "So then, which one of you will be testing," Clark asked.

"I'll be riding the d-wheel," Yusei said. Clark nodded and opened the door back out, motioning for Yusei to follow him outside. Once Yusei and Clark left, Bruno, Sherry, and I all sat down at the computers and pulled out our own computers, hooking them up to the main frame.

"Alright. I'll monitor Yusei's results while you two hack into the system," Sherry muttered. We nodded and started clacking away.

"They aren't too smart, leaving us here with no cameras," I sighed. Sherry just smiled.

"There's no information about Yliaster," I muttered before taking a bite out of my hamburger.

"Where haven't we checked," Sherry asked before taking a drink out of her soda.

"The Infinity," Yusei muttered.

"But we couldn't go near it in the data. It's way too heavily guarded," Bruno said before taking a drink out of his soda as well.

"That Level 10 door... All our answers should be behind there," Yusei said.

"But you'd need an Access key to get in there," I sighed.

"Access Key," Yusei asked. I nodded as I took a sip of my own drink. "Do you think the Director would have one," Yusei asked.

"Of course he would... And he's probably at lunch right now," I said.

"So his office is empty," Sherry smiled. We all quickly picked up our lunch before rushing off. Regardless that no one was sneaking through the halls, we took every precautions to make sure we weren't seen. Once we got to Clark's office, we all quickly dug through the drawers. "Here it is," Sherry whispered. Yusei nodded and we all prepared to leave.

"Wait," Yusei said and pointed to the monitor, which had cameras of the halls outside this room. On all four screens, there was Clark.

"Hurry! The air vent," Sherry said. I fumbled with a chair and pulled it over near the vent and Bruno pulled off the vent, allowing us to quickly crawl in.

"Go on ahead! I'll stall," Yusei whispered. I could hear him reattach the vent and move the chair back as the rest of us crawled through the vent. A few minutes later, we found another vent, which Sherry kicked clean off. After reattaching the vent, we quickly went back to the Infinity, finding the red Level 10. Sherry slid the card and the door slowly opened, allowing us to run inside. A few minutes of hacking later, and we found the file we needed. Sherry silently put out Flash Drive in and started copying the data. Once she was finished, we continued hacking into the system when a loud beeping sound went off, followed by flashing red lights. Sherry cursed as we quickly gathered our stuff up before running out of the room. We ran for about a minute when we saw Yusei running towards us.

"There they are! Get them," a voice shouted. Sherry cursed again.

"This way," Yusei shouted before darting off in the other direction. We quickly followed him and ended up in a room with tons of shuttles. These must be the shuttles that Clark uses on his Infinity dimensional travels... "Let's get in this one," Yusei said without breaking his stride towards the shuttle. We all quickly ran in but our eyes widened when the door closed behind us. Sherry cursed for the third time today and ran forward towards the front of the ship, which was when our shuttle started moving. Sherry pounded on the glass, but nothing happened. Bruno joined in, but still, nothing happened. Our shuttle suddenly stopped moving and I saw we were surrounded by Infinity.

"Disappear between two time periods," Clark said over an intercom before everything went white. A few seconds later, the windows adjusted and changed to a dark black, allowing us to see around once more. Sherry and I quickly ran over to the control panels, trying to figure out what was going on.

"We're going into a wormhole," Bruno muttered.

"W-Wormhole," Yusei asked.

"We're going to another dimension.. Where is uncertain," I muttered. There was a beep and we turned to see Clark's head floating in the air... A video projector.

"Well, this is Yusei Fudo, Sherry LeBlanc, and their friends," Clark asked.

"How do you know my name," Sherry asked.

"He's known from the beginning," Yusei said as he took off his hat, letting the yellow parts of his hair finally come back.

"I knew you were related with Yliaster," Sherry growled. She froze when a sudden realization came to her. "You know who killed my parents, don't you," Sherry asked.

"Hmm... Doctor LeBlanc. What a familiar name. He was such a wonderful man... But he asked way too many questions. He was kept around to create a control card for the Infinity, but he found the true way of using the device... Simply put, Infinity is a way to connect periods of time. Yliaster has been using it to tamper with history. This world has been known to be a taboo. Dr. LeBlanc noticed it, but I dealt with that... But now, due to the fact that I've told you this story, I won't let you leave safely," Clark finished with a smirk. His face disappeared and was replaced with a diagram of a wormhole with a little pink dot to represent us. "Your shuttle will leave the dimension hole half way through his course and be caught in a dimensional distortion, because you do not have a Control Card," Clark said as the pink dot responded to what he said. Once it was done with the diagram, Clark reappeared. "Farewell," Clark smiled before he suddenly disappeared. There was a large jolt and everything turned white once more.

My conscious was slowly stirred by the sound of breaking metal. It still took me a minute or two to fully realize what was happening, and I staggered to my feet. I looked around and saw everyone else was unconscious. That's when Yusei twitched and slowly opened his eyes, being in the same daze as I was, but he recovered much quicker. By that time, Sherry was slowly pushing herself off the ground, so I ran over to her side and helped her get up. Once Bruno was up, he staggered over to the machine he was at before while I stared out the window. Everything was just yellow strings, like macaroni that wasn't stirred enough, having dark yellow, light yellow, and all the colors in between. There was another jolt and we all almost fell over as a red light enveloped the room. "Shuttle out of control. Shuttle out of control," a voice said. Sherry and I ran back over to the controls and tried to get the shuttle back on course, but to no avail. There was another jolt and we were all flung to the other side of the ship. It took us a few seconds to get back to our stations, but on the diagram over head, we were still headed outside the wormhole.

"Isn't there anything we can do to stop it," Yusei asked.

"Without a Control Card, no," Bruno said. I turned to Sherry as her eyes widened. She quickly ran next to Bruno and pulled out a card that, due to my times with Sherry, I was way too familiar with. Z-ONE. Sherry put the card in and we all sighed with relief as the light disappeared.

"Shuttle back on course," the voice from earlier said. Regardless, there was still the crackling of the metal all around. There was the sound of shattering glass followed by a scream and we all turned to see Sherry flying towards the window, sucked by its vacuum. I did the first thing that came to mind and grabbed a cord so I would be tied to the ship, in a way, but dove out after her, using my free hand to catch her's.

"Kaze, just let go," Sherry shouted.

"I'm not letting go of your hand," I shouted, even though I felt my hand's grip slipping. Not the one that had her hand though, but the one with cord.

"Let go of me and get back in the shuttle," Sherry snapped.

"Kaze! Sherry," Yusei shouted.

"Let go now," Sherry screamed. My grip on the cord slipped entirely, letting the suction of the Infinity swipe Sherry and I away. Sherry screamed, and it took all my will power to not do the same. Instead of screaming, I used my other hand to pulled Sherry close to me so that whatever time or dimension we wound up in, at least we'd be there together.

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><p>Reviews:<p>

bryan102694: I'm not sure if I understand what your saying... But regardless, whether he gets it in tag force 4 or not, I'll choose whether I want him to get it or not.


	7. Hope

"I'm gonna win," Rua grinned as he placed the card on the ground. Out of pure boredom due to the fact that we've been waiting for a hour, Rua decided he wanted to duel, but due to the fact that the garage wasn't big enough to do a duel with our duel disks, we were sitting down and playing it on the floor. Rua froze and I did too as my Front Claw mark lit up brightly. We turned and saw that the rest of the Signers had their marks lighting up too. A red bubble erupted out of it as a huge gust of wind flew through the garage, which would have knocked us over if the bubble hadn't finished solidifying.

"What was that," Crow asked. Regardless, Rua and I picked up our cards, easily being able to tell what was coming next. "Let's go check it out," Crow shouted.

"But where," Rua asked.

"Let's go to the harbor. There's a view of the entire town from there," Aki said. Crow nodded and we all ran off. The entire time, the word Yliaster floating in my head. They had something to do with it, no doubt. We all panted for breath when we finally reached the harbor, but no one was there, or anything besides the normal stuff that would be there.

"What's that," Jack asked and pointed towards the sky. We followed his gaze and saw a white light.  
>"What is it," Rua asked.<p>

"Whatever it is, it's coming our way," I shouted. My eyes widened when I saw it was a space shuttle, and it slammed into the water, soaking all of us with the wave it created. The shuttle slowed to a stop after bumping into the harbor and the hatch started opening, letting smoke erupt out of it.

"Yusei! Bruno," Crow shouted as the two walked out of the shuttle. My heart sank and I felt sick.

"We're in Neo Domino," Yusei muttered.

"Looks like we got home safe and sound," Bruno said. There was so much that I wanted to say, but words just wouldn't form in my mouth.

"Guys," Jack muttered and pointed to the sky again. I slowly turned and saw what looked like a city, but all the building were black and the sky was purple.

"What is it? I can't see anything," Rua said.

"I can't see it either," Yeager muttered and put his hand over his eyes as it would help him see better.

"The huge island in the sky," Jack shouted.

"What," Rua shouted.

"We saw it in the other dimension... but here, it must be because of the Crimson Dragon's powers," Yusei murmured.

"Why can't I have a mark," Rua moaned.

"What is that thing," Crow asked, ignoring Rua and his usual _'I wanna be a Signer'_ rant.

"The Momentum that will lead to the destruction of man kind," Yusei said.

"What do you mean," Jack asked.

"That thing is going to be a threat to us," Yusei muttered. "The Momentum Express willingly cooperated with Yliaster," Yusei said.

"What," Yeager shouted.

"We have evidence of it too," Yusei continued.

"Let's go check it out," Jack shouted.

"Yusei," I managed to say, making him turn to me. In his eyes, I could tell he already knew what I was going to say next. "Where's Kaze," I continued, but a little above a whisper.

"That's right! Where's Sherry too," Rua shouted. Bruno and Yusei didn't say anything.

"We'll talk about it later in the garage," Yusei muttered before leaving with the others. Tears formed in my eyes and I clumsily wiped them away with the sleeves of my shirt.

"What are you crying about, Ruka? There probably just wasn't enough room in the shuttle! Kaze and Sherry are probably in another one and are on their way home as we speak," Rua grinned. I silently walked over the shuttle and started making my way inside. "Ah! Ruka! Don't go in there! We don't know what it'll do," Rua shouted, but jumped in with me either way. We sat there, observing the shuttle. "Whoa! This is so cool," Rua screamed as he ran around, eager to look at all the devices, but making sure not to touch anything so we wouldn't go flying off into God knows where. I silently walked around, looking for any clues. It didn't take me too long to find a large shattered window with four hats laying on the ground near it, all from the Bolger and Company. If there were four hats, and Yusei and Bruno left.. It didn't take me too long to add two and two together. Tears reformed in my eyes and I quickly ran away, not caring to tell Rua I was leaving. I didn't have to, because not even a ten seconds before I left the shuttle, I heard Rua scream my name and heard his footsteps coming after me. Usually, Rua could easily catch up to me with his boundless energy, but I actually was in the lead the entire run to Yusei's place. When we got there, we found Mizoguchi sitting there. "What are you doing here," Rua asked between his panting.

"I was told to wait here for Yusei and Bruno," Mizoguchi said. Pain ran through my heart, because he didn't know what happened to Sherry, who he cared for deeply.

"We're waiting here for them too," Rua said. Both of us managed to catch our breath and we sat down next to Mizoguchi, making small talk. Rua was eager to talk to him about duels, in which Mizoguchi complied and talked to him all about all his duels and his opponents. We only stopped when the door opened, revealing Yusei and Bruno. The two walked down next to us and Yusei held out a card. Mizoguchi looked extremely pained and slowly took the card. He put one hand through his hair and murmured things like 'My lady' and 'No way'. He slowly moved his hand from his hair to his face so he could hide that he was crying, but you could hear it.

"You see," Yusei muttered before telling us all about what happened. Kaze had tried to save Sherry from being sucked into a different dimension, but got sucked in as well. Yusei ran to the window to see if they were still there, but they were gone. "So, they could still be alive," Yusei said, trying to lift our spirits, but it wouldn't work due to the depressing atmosphere and news. The door slowly opened once more and Crow walked in, motioning for Yusei and Bruno to come with him, which they did, but Mizoguchi came too. I just sat there, tears overflowing. I tried my best to push them back, for there was the possibility that he was alive, but it kept coming back that he was in a different dimension, and I would never see him again... But Sherry would. Sherry would get to live every day with him... Rua and I didn't have to go up with Yusei and the others because they were so loud that we could hear them from the garage. The Yliaster members were now a team for the WRPG, and Sherry's team was kicked right off the board... What did it matter anyway...? Mizoguchi couldn't beat a whole team by himself, now that...

"Come on, Ruka...! Let's go by the others," Rua muttered. I slowly nodded and wiped my tears away once more and forced the rest down before we slowly walked up the stairs. On our ascent, we saw Mikage and Ushio running down the other stairs, followed by Yeager. After a few moments of silence, Mizoguchi started leaving as well, and I ran after him. I caught up with him as he was getting on his D-wheel.

"What is it," Mizoguchi asked.

"Your going to look for Sherry... Right," I asked. Mizoguchi nodded. "Please... Look for Kaze as well...! He should be with her," I muttered. Mizoguchi nodded before driving off, leaving a puff of smoke. Mizoguchi was going to be a sort of hope for me, regardless of he knew it or not... He was dealing with the same thing that I was. The fact that someone he cared for so much was now gone. He believed they were alive and in this time period, so I would believe in it too... As long as Mizoguchi believed...

"Hey! Ruka," Rua shouted. I turned towards him just as he got a few feet away from me.

"Yeah," I asked.

"Where'd Mizoguchi go! I wanted to talk to him about s'more duels," Rua shouted and flailed his arms, causing me to giggle softly.

"He's going off on... Let's say an adventure," I smiled slightly.

"Woah! I _knew_ he was cool! What kinda treasure is he gonna find," Rua asked eagerly, excitement practically dripping out of his ears.

"The best kind of treasures... Friends."

_..._

_"Kaze... Come with me."_

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><p>Reviews:<p>

Shamanic Tiara: Thanks ^-^ Although I'm hoping that it'll get even better as the plot advances.

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><p>Notes:<p>

- As for the last line, you can either get it or not get it. It'd probably make more sense if you've seen the anime, since the story goes along with it, but if not... Oh well, it'll make sense late.

- After this, there's going to be a break in time. Instead of being at the episode 117 area, the next chapter will be towards the end of 135. I'm time skipping because since Ruka is pretty much normal again, it'll basically be the same, give a few things that really don't change anything plot wise. (Aka, the occasional melancholy moment at home and stuff)


	8. Enemies

As I said, there is a time skip. Basically all you missed was three WRPG matches... We don't need Yusei hogging the show ^.^'

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><p>"W.. We did it," Rua muttered. The four of us were silent for a minute until the victory actually set in. "We did it! We did it! We did it," Rua cheered extremely loudly while jumping around, knocking over our chairs. I giggled softly as tears formed in his eyes and he started bawling. Rua cried for the next two minutes until Yusei, Jack, and Crow pulled to a stop on the track in front of us.<p>

"Yusei," I shouted as Rua eagerly bound over to his role model, promptly assaulting him with compliments. Just as Rua was getting started, Jack's fans, which consisted of Mikage, Carly, and a waitress, swarmed him with compliments. Slowly after, Ushio and Team Ragnarok walked up to us all giving their congratulations.

"Congratulations, you guys," a voice said. My heart leapt to my throat as I felt my heart beat faster. Not only did we win the WRPG, but Mizoguchi was back too! If he was back... Does that mean that he found Kaze...? I quickly turned towards the elder butler but my spirits sank at seeing he was alone. "Sorry, but I have had no luck yet," Mizoguchi murmured. Just as I was about to reply, the ground started shaking.

"W-what the," Rua trailed off. Our eyes widened as a crack appeared in the sky, as if it were made of glass. Promptly after, bits of the sky fell to the ground, revealing a dark gray sky.

"No... way," Yusei muttered as a gray object floated down out of it. If you payed enough attention, it looked like an upside down city. "The Arc Cradle," Yusei said. Jack and Crow broke out into an argument of why the Arc Cradled appeared, even though it didn't really matter. Everyone else was in too much shock to even try to stop them.

"Team 5DS," a familiar voice called out. We all quickly turned to see the Vice Director, now Director, running towards us. "We have to go to the Public Security Burea! We have to get a plan to fight back," Yeager shouted.

"Alright," Yusei said.

"I'll help too," Mizoguchi said. Yeager nodded before running off, all of Team 5DS and Mizoguchi at his heels.

"Inform the citizens! Let them know this things going to hit us and to evacuate! The rest of you do the same," Yeager shouted. The workers hesitantly stood up and ran away, leaving us in silence to take in the news. The Arc Cradle was going to crash into Neo Domino City, and the closer it got, the more that the Momentum is going to stop... Once the workers left the room, Bruno sat down at one of the computers and started clacking away. "What are you doing," Yeager asked.

"We should get a closer look at this thing," Bruno said as a closer up picture of the Arc Cradle showed up. Bruno showed us different frames of the entire structure, which confirmed my beliefs that it was an upside down town.

"Hold up! Zoom in to that line," Yusei said, in which Bruno complied. Our eyes widened at the sight of the Daedalus Bridge, and for a few seconds, no one could say anything.

"T... That's the future of Neo Domino City," Crow asked softly.

"Isn't there anyway to stop it," Yeager shouted. Everyone went silent, causing sweat to appear on my face. Was there really nothing we could do? Were we doomed...?

"There is a way," Bruno said, causing us all to turn to the blue haired mechanic. "As you all know, the Arc Cradle as a Negative Momentum Rotation... If we have enough positive to clash, it'll cancel out," Bruno continued.

"But we don't have nearly enough," Aki muttered.

"Then... You guys hurry up an evacuate," Yeager mumbled.

"Hold up," Yusei said and pointed at the screen, revealing Team Ragnarok riding their D-wheels down the streets, which is impossible since the positive Momentum in D-wheels wouldn't work anymore with the Arc Cradle.

"Let's go and meet up with them," Crow shouted. Just as we left the building, Team Ragnarok pulled to stop beside us.

"How come you can ride your D-wheels," Jack demanded. Brave simply pointed to his eye and the Rune Eyes lit up on all three of the members.

"So then our D-wheels," Yusei trailed off. Jack, Crow, and Yusei promptly ran over to their d-wheels and revved their engines after their marks light up brightly.

"It works," Jack shouted.

"Alright," Rua cheered, nearly making everyone around him go deaf because he was so loud.

"We can stop the Arc Cradle now," Yusei said with a rare smile.

"Don't be so sure," an eerily familiar voice said. It didn't take me too long to remember my rival's voice.

"S-Sherry! Y-you're alive," Yusei asked as he looked down to his D-wheel screen. Everyone quickly surrounded his d-wheel, but Mizoguchi and I shoved our way to the front near Yusei.

"M-My lady," Mizoguichi shouted.

"I've seen the future. If you come to the Arc Craddle, you'll die, Yusei," Sherry said, still as blunt as ever. Her words hit Yusei as if they were real, and to be honest, they hit the rest of us as well.

"You're crazy! Yusei'll never die! Just who are you with," Crow demanded as he recovered.

"I am with Zone... But more personally, I have a friend here with me," Sherry said, causing my grip on Yusei's D-wheel to tighten noticeably. "Zone controls the Arc Cradle. He's like a god. He's also the one who we met in the other world," Sherry continued.

"You can't be doing such things! Millions will die-," Yusei started.

"And billions will be saved," Sherry interrupted.

"Destroying Neo Domino is just insane," Yusei shouted.

"You'll die either way," Sherry said, continuing her bluntness.

"You don't know until you try," Yusei said. He was about to continue when Mizoguchi shoved him out of the way.

"My lady! Where in the world are you," Mizoguchi shouted.

"I am on the Arc Cradle. As is my friend," Sherry said.

"So Zone took you refugee," Mizoguchi asked.

"Of course not! We are here of our own free will," Sherry said.

"You keep saying your friend and everything... How about you cut to the chase and tell us who he is," I said through clenched teeth, not minding if I might leave a small dent on Yusei's D-wheel in my frustration.

"How can you honestly forget the one you care for so much? Perhaps I should merely tell him you forgot about him," Sherry said with a slight smile that was almost invisible.

"Be quiet," I snapped, like Yusei, giving a rare occurrence, but mine was snapping. "You expect me to believe that Kaze went with you! That he's going to try and destroy all of us? That's something I can't believe," I shouted as tears formed in my eyes.

"Believe what you want, but you can't hide from the truth, nor the future," Sherry said.

"Stop speaking for Kaze! Let me talk to him," I shouted.

"And why should I? You are the enemy, in more ways than one. I'd follow orders from a snail quicker than I would with you," Sherry smirked slightly, causing my grip on Yusei's D-wheel to tighten even more, causing my knuckles to go snow white. After a second of silence, I slowly let go of the D-wheels side armor as my tears over flowed.

"Please... just... _please_... let me... let me talk to him," I muttered. Everyone else went silent at my recent outbursts.

"To tell you the truth, you won't want to see him at the moment," Sherry muttered.

"I.. I don't care what happened to him! He could have this... this huge scar and I'd still want to see him," I said, my voice now quavering.

"That's not what I meant. Appearance isn't an issue," Sherry murmured. After seeing I wouldn't change my mind, Sherry reluctantly turned away from the screen. "Kaze...? There's someone who wants to talk to you. Can you come here," Sherry asked.

"If that pleases you," a voice said. To be honest, it took longer to recognize this voice than Sherry's... Probably because Kaze's voice was now almost soulless. My heart race increased as the familiar brown haired boy walked over to Sherry in the same black and white clothing style she wore.

"Kaze," I managed to say. Everyone else, to my surprise, was still silent. Probably because I was on the verge of breaking down at the moment.

"Well... Please introduce yourself to her," Sherry said.

"_Introduce_...? I-," I started.

"I am _GST-001_. I was given the name 'Kaze' by my master, Sherry," Kaze said, causing me to freeze.

"What do you mean... _GST-001_," I asked softly.

"I am the first Ghost ever created. I am, so to say, the father of all Ghosts. I was assigned by my creator, Zone, to help Sherry," Kaze said, still without a trace of a soul in his voice.

"That will be all, Kaze... Please go inform Zone I will be there in a few minutes," Sherry muttered.

"As you wish," Kaze muttered before leaving. After sitting a few seconds in silence, Sherry turned back to the screen.

"You can't say I didn't warn you," Sherry said.

"What... What was that about," I muttered. "Why would you do that to him," I murmured.

"Kaze has.. as Zone told me, regained his memories... He was the first Ghost, and one of the few that came back in time to restore the world," Sherry muttered. "Do you honestly think I would want him to be like that too? The first time I saw him here I was so overjoyed, but do you know what he said to me," Sherry asked. I didn't respond and Sherry didn't say anything for a while either. "He simply said_ 'Hello. I am_ GST-001_, you're new assistant as of Zone's orders'_," Sherry muttered, clearly pained.

"Sherry," I muttered.

"Regardless... I'll repeat what I've said. Don't come to the Arc Cradle, Yusei," Sherry muttered.

"My lady-," Mizoguchi started.

"And Mizoguchi, forget about me. My home is now the Arc Cradle and I am your enemy," Sherry said before the screen went black, one haunting thought still in my mind. I would have to duel Kaze... And win.

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><p>Notes:<p>

- I know this is probably confusing but if you play Placcido's story mode in Tag Force 5, he lets you know that the Hat Guy is a robot. More specifically, a Ghost. Can't let a plot twist like that slip by me that quick now can I...? (And you'll probably hate me for spoiling that if you haven't beaten it yet but oh well...)

- I tried to make this as realistic as possible for a reaction type of thing, but I probably did horrible. Even though I'm within a few years of how old Ruka is, can't think of how she'd react. Forgive me if its an entire cliche...

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><p>Reviews:<p>

bryan102694: I just went and googled it and it said that Goodwin can never be dueled. At all. What so ever... So... I'm going to say this again that your probably thinking of WC 2010.


	9. Rainbow Bridge Bifrost

I'm surprised, actually XD I upload the chapter that Kaze is a Ghost and bam, I get a bunch of e-mails about the story over night ^-^'' I'm glad you guys all apparently like the plot twist. The breaks aren't really working for me today to indicate new paragraphs, so I'm putting a 'ruler' as its called to indicate the new paragraphs now.

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><p><em>"Sherry... There you are," Zone said as his pod turned towards the blond entering the room.<em>

_"I sent Kaze to tell you I'd be here shortly, did I not," Sherry asked. Zone didn't reply, but his one visible blue eye glared slightly towards her._

_"Yes... _GST-001_ did relay the message," Zone said, causing Sherry to clench her hands into fists, which Zone didn't seem to notice. "With that aside... You did tell Yusei, correct," Zone asked._

_"Of course I did. He'll probably come regardless... He's that type of man," Sherry said._

_"Then why bother to go through the trouble of informing them," Zone asked_

_"Its the most I could do for a former friend," Sherry muttered. Zone sat there silently, as if expecting Sherry to go on. Once he saw that she wouldn't say anymore, Zone turned back to the screen that allowed him to view Neo Domino, quietly observing the citizens flee the town as Sherry also left the room._

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><p>"So, what are we going to do about getting to the Arc Cradle, Yusei," Aki asked.<p>

"If what Sherry said was true... I'll just have to get to the Arc Cradle using a way that she didn't see. That should change what she saw," Yusei said.

"I think its better if we don't find this other way," a voice muttered. I was surprised to see that it was Rua, and so was everyone else. Rua was the last person who wouldn't want to go on a trip like this.

"Rua," I muttered.

"Yusei'll die either way," Rua mumbled. Rua shouted out a curse, causing me to get even more surprised. As much as I'd like to scold him for using words like that, I figured it'd be best to let it slide and not agitate him anymore. "We don't need to do squat to make that happen... Yusei... I... I don't want you to die," Rua shouted as tears formed in his eyes. "Neo Domino won't be saved if-," Rua started as his tears overflowed, but he was interrupted by Jack hoisting him into the air by the collar of his shirt.

"Now you listen here," Jack barked. Jack continued on about how he wouldn't let Yusei die and that he'd make Sherry eat her words, but he used a lot of words that I'm not allowed to say... Let's just say they weren't too nice. Rua started crying loudly, causing everyone else to go quiet.

"Jack," Yusei muttered. Jack quickly let go of Rua's shirt and arrogantly turned away with his arms crossed as Rua ran over to me, still crying.

"Rua... Its.. Its alright," I muttered even though tears were forming in my eyes too.

"Its not gonna be alright! If Yusei dies...! If Yusei dies...! We," Rua trailed off before crying loudly once more. Yusei quietly hugged him as I clumsily wiped the tears forming in my eyes away. If I broke down too, things wouldn't get any better. It'd probably make Rua cry even more. Besides, Yusei has put his life on the line before... When he went against the Dark Signers... Now isn't really any different... _Right?_

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><p>"Ruka... He's... He's gonna be okay... Right," Rua asked without looking up from the blank screen.<p>

"Of course he is... He did beat the Emperors of Yliaster already, so he'll be fine," I muttered.

"What do the spirits say about this...? They're really smart and stuff, right...? What do they say," Rua asked. I remained quiet, pretending to contact the spirits. Even if I actually did, they wouldn't be able to give a serious and true answer about the future, but if lying is what it took to get Rua back into shape, then that's what I'll do...

"They say he'll live a long and happy life," I said and forced a smile.

"Really," Rua asked, instantly getting a spark of happiness back in his eye as I thought it would.

"Yusei! Where do you think your going at this time," Jack shouted, drawing our attentions to the front of the room.

"I'm heading to the Daedalus Bridge, were the entrance to the Arc Cradle will be," Yusei's voice said.

"Why did you hide that from us," Jack shouted as Yusei's image appeared on the big screen.

"I'm really sorry... I'm going to the Arc Cradle alone. Please get out of here while you have the time," Yusei said before he turned off the screen, leaving us silent.

"Yusei," Jack shouted. Crow cursed up a storm before running towards the door.

"Let's go," Rua shouted.

* * *

><p>"There he is," Rua shouted and pointed towards a small red object in the distance before returning his grip on Crow's stomach to keep him in place. I was riding with Aki and her D-wheel and Jack was alone on his ride.<p>

"Hey! I'm the person who believe in the hero! Don't pull this moment away from me," Crow called out, causing Yusei to turn to us as we pulled to a stop.

"I'm still going alone," Yusei muttered.

"Yusei. I won't say a single thing about trying to stop you, so in turn, you better not say anything to stop us from going," Jack said.

"That's right! We'll change the future," Aki said.

"We're always going to be together! That's _Team 5Ds_," Crow said.

"I understand... Let's go then, to save Neo Domino," Yusei smiled slightly as he turned to use. Everyone else nodded, but I didn't not until I mentally added to save Kaze from whatever weird mind trick that Zone was playing on him. Yusei took off towards the bridge and the path beyond it, followed by Jack, then Crow and Rua, and finally Aki and me. Not even five seconds onto the path after the bridge, Rua started screaming.

"Please, Crow! Hurry and get us to safety," Rua screamed. Rua only stopped screaming when we rode up next to the Arc Cradle, and probably like me, took in the destroyed town which most most likely the Satellite. When I heard a change in the D-wheel sounds, I looked ahead and saw Yusei slowing down as Jack, Crow, and Rua pulled to a stop on the Arc Cradle. Aki's d-wheel was much slower than the others and I slowly turned around, surprised to see the path near the bridge started disappearing.

"Ruka," Yusei shouted, causing me to turn towards him, as he was riding next to us now. "Hurry up and jump over to my D-wheel! Its got enough power to get you to safety," Yusei shouted as he lifted up the side bar and held his hand out towards me. My heart skipped a beat as I remembered the duel against Lucciano and Placcido. The one 500 point blow knocked me to the ground and Kaze turned around and held his hand out to help me up... The next thing I knew I was on Yusei's D-wheel as he pulled the side bar down. I slowly closed my eyes and let the memories flow back.

"Ruka," Rua's voice screamed, pulling me out of my memories as Yusei's D-wheel pulled to a stop. Yusei quickly lifted the side bar, so I hopped of his lap. Not even a second after I hit the ground, Rua nearly knocked me over with a hug. "Thank god your safe," Rua shouted as he pulled away.

"Sorry for worrying you any," I said. Rua gave me another quick hug before returning to Crow's D-wheel, in which I returned to Aki's.

"Who are you," Jack demanded, bringing my attention to a man on a blue D-wheel that I hadn't noticed before.

"My memory is spotty, to say the least. I'm here to get them back," the man said.

"Whatever! I don't care as long as your not an enemy," Crow said.

"Let's go, guys! To the heart of the Arc Cradle! Where Zone is," Yusei shouted. Without another word, we all drove down the circle road to the center, which was a large pile of Momentum.

"So... What should we do now...? It doesn't look like there's a way in," Crow said. My eyes widened as the ground disappeared beneath us, leaving all of us screaming as we fell into a hole.

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><p>Reviews:<p>

Johan07: Or at least that's what Placcido says in Tag Force 5 xD I'm just going with it, even though its only mentioned once in the games.

bryan102694: Whatever it was, I guess it doesn't really matter.

dragonmanNET: Thanks ^-^ I try to update my stories at least once a week so no one loses interest in it, and since its summer here, I can get lots of writing done. (Hopefully it doesn't bug you that I can't put your correct username since its read as a website and doesn't show up)

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><p>Notes:<p>

- Going along with this story, I put up a poll to see who you are going for. Feel free to vote, but as it says, it won't change anything.

- This one is sort of important, but I recently injured both of my hands (because I have such good luck...) and at points, they will randomly start hurting until I don't move them at all for a while, so this may result in me taking a break from writing for a while. Its been going on for about three days, and its much better than it was when it started, but it'll still sting at points, so after I get some rest on my trip tomorrow, I'll see if its any better. If not, I'll take a break until it is.

- Along with the above possible break, my birthday is coming up on the 10th of August, so as that nears, I'm going to get more and more busy (although it should be the opposite) so there might be a break there too. This does apply to this story and _Bleach Tower_ but since I don't have an update, I can't put it there.

- And for a final note, even though Ruka has no idea that the path is called that the path is called Bifrost, I had no idea what else to call this chapter, and since I know what it's called, I'm just going with it...


	10. Retrieval

I just remembered that they say Ruka is 11 during the entire series. (Except for the finale I guess) From my view point, a few years should have went between the Dark Signers and WRPG since its sort of crazy that they'd all almost die nearly ten times within a whole year... So for this story, Ruka will be around 14 , Kaze will be around 18 and so is Sherry, because if not, its extremely weird given the plot with an 11 year old and a 18 year old... I hope this doesn't confuse anyone too much. (I honestly forgot that in the anime there was no break in arcs until I went to an article about Ruka to check something out, which is why I'm just putting this now...)

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><p>"Is everyone alright," Yusei called out. Part of me wanted to scream out that clinging onto Rua's arm for dear life didn't exactly make me okay, but if I did, I'd probably startle everyone and we'd get in to even more trouble.<p>

"Hang on...! I'll get you up," Rua muttered although he was extremely stained, even with Jack doing his best to pull us up to ground. I saw Rua wince and a second later I flew to the ground, Rua by my side as Jack returned to his D-wheel. "Ah.. Thanks," Rua muttered as I slowly got to my knees, uninjured by the throw due to my helmet and the rest of my safety equipment. I took a moment to catch my breath though before Rua helped me to my feet.

"What are we gonna do now? We can't go together," Jack said and nodded towards the center of the room, which had no ground and separated us from the others. Yusei and the man on the blue D-wheel were on one side of the room and Crow and Aki on the other, leaving Jack, Rua, and I on the remaining side. The man with the blue D-wheel walked over to his D-wheel and Yusei followed, both of them observing the screen. A few seconds later the man's face appeared on Jack's screen, followed by what seemed to be a map.

"You see, we're all, surprisingly, connect to one of the Planetary Gears... If we don't stop these three gears, then we won't be able to make the Plus Rotation that we want," the man said.

"Guys! We're going to have to go our separate ways if we want to save Neo Domino," Yusei shouted. Jack simply pulled his side bar down before turning his D-wheel around towards the path behind us.

"Jack," Rua asked.

"You heard him. We've got a mission," Jack said. Rua and I nodded before digging in our backpacks and pulling out our separate Duel Board, Rua's a blue and mine a pink. After we mounted and grabbed on to one of Jack's side bars, we gave our nod of approval that we were ready so Jack shot off, easily pulling us along. For the first few minutes, I gave a silent prayer that Kaze would be along this path. If he wasn't, the other probably wouldn't have any remorse taking him down to get rid of the gear's rotation... But if I found him... There's still a chance I could help him get his memories back! But with that in mind, if Kaze was there... His_ 'master'_ would probably be there...

"Ruka," Rua said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah," I asked as I turned to him, seeing he was still looking straight ahead.

"Are you ready for this," Rua asked.

"What kind of question is that? Of course I am," I said.

"You're just zoning out, that's all... I just wanted to make sure your alright," Rua said a light entered the tunnel, causing me to look ahead. I quickly let go of Jack's D-wheel and slowed to a stop.

"This must be it," Jack muttered as he looked down to the slowly rotating gear.

"The Planetary Gear," Rua muttered.

"That's correct," a voice said, causing me to quickly look up. A white light erupted out of the center pillar, nearly causing me to look away, and I would have if I hadn't saw a familiar figure exiting the light. To be correct, two familiar figures. One of Aporia, who used had beaten in the last round of the WRPG, and the other, Kaze.

"Aporia! Kaze," Jack shouted.

"It seems that you three are after the Planetary Gear... Zone won't be too happy if we let you do as you please," Kaze said, still speaking and looking as if he had no soul.

"Kaze-," I started when I felt something hit my chest. I looked down and saw a small device on the left side of my chest with a blue light. I instinctively reached for it and tried to pry it off, but it didn't even move. There was a click as something wrapped its way around one of my legs, causing me to look down once more, this time seeing a handcuff came out of the ground and trapped my ankle, keeping me in place.

"Explain what-," Jack started when he quickly grabbed his device. Just as I was about to ask what was wrong, a spike of pain went through my chest, causing me to nearly fall to my knees as I gripped the device on my chest.

"It.. It hurts...! What... what is this," Rua muttered.

"You...! What are these," Jack barked.

"With these, you can't run away," Kaze said.

"It doesn't matter either way. We'll crush you before you can even think of running," Aporia said.

"Why..? Kaze, why are you doing this," I asked as I slowly let go of the device.

"Defeat us in a duel and you will be able to stop the Planetary Gear," Kaze said, easily brushing off my question.

"Bring it on! I, Jack Atlas, will defeat you," Jack shouted.

"Then the rules are simple. Aporia and I will form a team and so will you three. We will fight against each other, 4000 life points each. I will go first, followed by Aporia, and then you three" Kaze said, causing sweat to appear on my face. Both Kaze and Aporia were really good duelists... Even with Jack on our side, would we be able to win...?

"Don't worry, Ruka! We've dueled together plenty of times! We know each others' decks! Those guys are probably dueling with each other for the first time," Rua smiled.

"Just like old times, eh," Aporia asked, causing me to look up.

"What do you mean," I asked.

"I'm the one who taught Aporia everything he knows about dueling," Kaze said as his duel disk activated.

"W-what," Jack shouted.

"Then.. Then that means that... Kaze must be on an entirely different level," Rua shouted.

"T.. Then," I trailed off. If Yusei barley managed to beat Aporia, things didn't look too good for us.. I slowly wiped the sweat off my face before taking a deep breath. I had to stick in the game. For Kaze! If I won, he'd probably return to normal! "Let's do this, Rua," I shouted.

"You've got that right," Rua cheered as he activated his duel disk, followed by Jack and me. Aporia's ring that floated behind him turned into a duel disk and the duel finally started.

* * *

><p>"Kaze," I screamed as I rushed forward due to the restraints being released. Rua quickly grabbed my arm and, against my struggles, pulled me back.<p>

"Come on, Ruka...! We have to get outta here! The room's gonna collapse," Rua said.

"But Kaze," I shouted as I struggled to break free from my brother's grip, but to no avail. Tears poured rapidly from my eyes as a large chunk of rubble fell down from the ceiling and landed on the path between me and my unconscious friend. Rua let go and I quickly ran to my duel board and jumped on before grabbing Jack's side bar. No one said anything as Jack sped off out of the room and to the Planetary Gear.

"Ruka," Rua muttered as we slowed to a stop on the now dim gear. Rua went to put a hand on my shoulder but I quickly moved my shoulder away, causing Rua to go silent as I rubbed my tears away.

"Don't cry," a familiar voice said, causing me to slowly look up. My eyes widened at seeing Ancient Fairy Dragon with a ball of light in her hands.

"B.. But Kaze...! He... He," I said, struggling for the words. Ancient Fairy Dragon floated down next to the wall and set the ball in her hands on the floor before disappearing.

"What's that," Jack asked. Curiosity got the best of me and I slowly walked towards the ball while still wiping tears away. I instantly stopped the the ball disappeared, revealing Kaze laying against the wall. My tears piled up even more and I sprinted the rest of the way, getting on my knees once I was by his side.

"What happened," Kaze muttered as he slowly opened his eyes but quickly winced as pain from his wounds set in.

"Please don't tell me you think you're a Ghost," I said.

"Do I look like a piece of machinery to you," Kaze asked, causing my tears to get even heavier before I hugged him tightly, causing him to yell out in pain, but I was so happy that I didn't both to lighten up. "L-let go! Its hurts! Not only that but you're gonna get my blood all over you," Kaze shouted, but once again, I was so happy that I didn't both to let go. Kaze sighed, seeing I wouldn't be letting go anytime soon, before wrapping one of his arms around my back.

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><p>Reviews:<p>

Johan07: Sorry about that... Had to show how they got to the Arc Cradle and all... This one kind of follows the episode, but its still tweaked until after the duel, where we're back to custom story, so to say. The story will follow the episodes at points, but hopefully that was the only chapter that strictly follows it.

underground-dweller: Thanks ^-^ Glad you like it.

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><p>Notes:<p>

- I'll state it again, I'm going off of Placcido's story line for the whole Ghost thing, and I haven't played it for a while, but I'm pretty sure that Placcido said at one point that the hat guy raised him or helped him at one point. If not, just go with the flow... Its a fan fiction, so it's bound to be a little different .

- I had no way of imitating a two against three duel since the games don't let you do that and I don't have their decks... Besides, I probably couldn't get the type of dramatic scenario... So yes, Rua is still the 6th signer in this and has Life Stream Dragon, in case you're wondering.


	11. Moments

Since there haven't been many KazexRuka moments besides pretty private ones, I'm going to try and throw some more hints of both KazexRuka and KazexSherry. I tried to keep the characters in character but they may get a little out of character at points, so sorry for that. And for Kaze's D-wheel, I based that off of my World Championship D-wheel, which is pretty much the Junk Frame with a bunch of adds.

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><p>I smiled slightly as I pulled out the familiar red hat from my backpack and placed it on Kaze's head, somewhat startling him. "Why are you giving me this," Kaze asked.<p>

"Because its yours," I said as I zipped my now empty backpack shut.

"But I broke our promise," Kaze muttered, causing me to turn back to him.

"What promise," I asked.

"At the arcade... I said I wouldn't let anything bad happen, but," Kaze trailed off.

"I don't remember that," I smiled as I stood up.

"But-," Kaze started.

"Besides... You've been gone for more than a week and I've had your hat the entire time," I pointed out as Kaze struggled to his feet.

"Not to ruin the moment or anything," Rua trailed off. "But how's Kaze gonna come with us? There isn't enough room and he doesn't have a D-wheel here," Rua said.

"Actually," Kaze trailed off as the sound of a D-wheel appeared in the distance. A few seconds later, Kaze's D-wheel drove to a stop next to him, causing Rua to scream out about how it was so cool. If I remember correctly, from what Kaze said when he explained his D-wheel to me, his D-wheel is... Unique. He actually used all scraps to make his D-wheel, just like Yusei did. Although, unlike Yusei's, his isn't built to be an all-around type that can take a lot of hits, so to say. His is based around the ability to withstand all the upgrade that can be put on it. Regardless of how scrappy it sounds, it's actually a really good D-wheel. I guess it lives by Kaze's motto that all that's matter is the heart of things. If he takes good care of it and pours himself into it, he believes, it'll do the exact same for him.

"Well then, we've gotta hurry to the center. The others are probably waiting," Jack said. Kaze quickly got onto his D-wheel, probably ignoring whatever pain came his way, before putting his sidebar down. I quickly got on my Duel Board as well before riding it over to Kaze's D-wheel, much to his surprise.

"What is it," Kaze asked.

"We've got a lot of catching up to do along the way," I giggled before Jack and Kaze drove off, pulling Rua and I in tow. On the whole way to the center gear, I actually rambled on to Kaze about all that happened, but now that I actually think about what I said, I probably sounded more like Rua than anything... By the time I finished telling Kaze about the end of the WRPG, he pulled to a stop, letting me know we were by the others.

"Hey! Crow! Aki! Look at this! Look at this," Rua screamed as he jumped off his Duel Board and eagerly pulled his sleeve down, showing off his new Signer mark to the others. The others being Crow, Aki, and Sherry.

"Nice," Crow shouted before getting on his knees and getting into an energetic conversation with Rua. I was more intent on the blond who was staring wide eyed in my direction due to the brown haired boy behind me. Tears slowly formed in her eyes and she slowly wiped them away.

"Look at me.. Getting emotional when you still don't recognize me," Sherry muttered.

"But Sherry... Kaze does remember," I said. Not even a second later I felt Sherry rush past me and I heard a yelp. I quickly turned, although I didn't have to to know what she was doing. Sherry was hugging Kaze as if he would slip away if she slackened her grip even the slightest bit, making me get a slightly sick feeling in my stomach. "You do know he's wounded, right," I asked calmly, although I was quite upset inside. Sherry didn't say anything and I sighed softly. I actually couldn't blame her since I did the exact same thing not too long ago, although my grip wasn't as tight on Kaze... So I guess I'd let them have their moment... Just this once... My eyes widened when Sherry pulled away and lifted Kaze into the air by the collar of his shirt, ignoring his attempts to beg for mercy. "S-Sherry," I asked.

"Do you think its fun to toy with people's emotions like that? Next time you pretend to be someone else, I'll make sure you regret it," Sherry shouted before letting go of Kaze's shirt, causing him to fall to this ground, hissing in pain.

"I'm telling you I don't know what happened! One second I'm flying into some weird dimension or whatever with you and the next thing I know Ruka's there and I'm hurting like heck," Kaze said as I ran to his side and helped him to his feet.

"Lying won't spare you from anything," Sherry said as she walked back over to us, getting extremely close to Kaze and causing him to prepare for the worst, which to his surprise, never came. Sherry slowly hugged him instead, causing the sickly feeling to rise again in my stomach. "I'm glad you're back," Sherry murmured.

"Anyway... Why'd you think Kaze was actually a Ghost. If you were really his friend, you'd know better," I said. Hey, I already allowed them one moment... Its not my fault that she ruined it. And if I let this go on, who know what they'll end up doing...

"Believing in your friends and not second guessing what they say is better," Sherry said as she pulled away.

"Guys, guys... We can't be arguing about something a silly as that," Kaze said. "Although I don't know why we're arguing about if I'm a Ghost or not," Kaze muttered.

"Do you honestly not remember," Sherry asked.

"What would I get out of lying that I apparently though I was a robot," Kaze sighed as he put his gloved hands into his pockets. Sherry took a few steps towards him so that they weren't even a foot away from each other before grabbing his hat's visor and pushing it towards the sky, causing Kaze to blush as she stared into his eyes.

"So you're telling the truth," Sherry muttered before pushing his hat's visor back down to where it hit his nose, in which Kaze silently pushed his hat back up to a normal angle.

"Hey! Its Yusei," Rua shouted, causing us to turn to see Yusei pull to a stop. "Hey! Hey, Yusei! Look at this! Look at this," Rua continued as he eagerly pulled his sleeve down once more to show off his Signer Mark.

"You should have seen him," Jack said.

"I don't think we would have been able to stop the gear and save Kaze if he wasn't there," I muttered, causing Rua to blush.

"Really? Ah, dontcha think that's a little too much," Rua asked, although by the way he was dancing around, he obviously liked all the praise.

"Nice job, Rua," Yusei said, causing Rua to dance around even more for being praised by both of his heroes. Yusei didn't say anything else but simply turned to both Sherry and Kaze. There was a few moments of silence before Sherry crossed her arms.

"What's with that look," Sherry asked.

"Hey, Yusei... Where's that guy that was with you," Aki asked. Yusei's face instantly darkened and his fists started shaking.

"He's... He's gone. He protected the gear and... he was Bruno," Yusei muttered, causing our eyes to widdened.

"What do you mean," Crow asked.

"Bruno's real name is Antinomy... And just like Aporia, was sent here by Zone to change the future," Yusei muttered.

"So then... Bruno was our enemy," Aki asked.

"That's not true! Kaze is our friend and he was sent by Zone too, right? Bruno was our friend too! He taught me the Delta Accel Synchro," Yusei said. "And he gave up his live to protect me," Yusei muttered.

"That's unforgiveable," Crow shouted.

"Sherry! Kaze! You two know where Zone is, don't you! Where is he," Jack shouted.

"Of course," Sherry said.

"Things aren't really that clear, but I remember there's a room a little ways from here. Zone is there, I think," Kaze said.

"Then let's go! No one uses my friend as a shield for his games," Jack shouted. Everyone else nodded as they got on their D-wheels, Rua and I being the only exceptions as we got on our Duel Boards and grabbed onto the nearest D-wheel. For me, that was Kaze's, and for Rua, it was Jack's... We just had a little ways to go and we'd get all the answers. Whether Kaze was really a Ghost or not... and what the future of our world was... I turned towards Kaze and saw that his hands were gripped tightly on his D-wheel and he was sweating.

"Kaze," I muttered. Kaze's eyes widdened and he quickly turned to me.

"Y-yeah," Kaze asked.

"You okay," I asked. Kaze remained silent and turned back to the path ahead of us.

"I dunno," Kaze muttered.

"If anythings bothering you... You can talk to me," I said.

"Its just... I remember certain things... and I lied to Sherry... That's all," Kaze said as he looked towards me out of the corner of his eyes.

"Like what," I asked.

"I remember waking up here and seeing Zone... and I remember seeing Aporia being rebuilt... But I can't remember anything else," Kaze muttered.

"Why does that bother you," I asked.

"It means that you might be right... I mean, about the whole Ghost thing... I... I might actually be a robot... Doesn't that fact scare you," Kaze asked as he used one hand to pull his visor down even more, blocking my view of his face.

"I.. I guess it does scare me, but," I trailed off. "Regardless! You're still you! Ghost or not, you're still one of my most treasured friends," I smiled. Even though most of Kaze's face was out of my view, I could see his cheeks turn pink, causing me to giggle before turning towards the path ahead of us.

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><p>Reviews:<p>

underground-dweller: Actually, I had planned for Kaze to be with Sherry but then I decided to make him be the area where Ruka was heading to add a little more drama and I think since its from Ruka's point of view, this is better than Crow or Aki going "Meh, he was there. Found him. Brought him back =3=" Plus, this way Ruka gets hit with jealousy when she sees Kaze's and Sherry's reunion. Besides, if Kaze was with Sherry, it'd be a tag duel and not a battle royal, so Sherry's initial strategy wouldn't work, so I decided if it was two on three, it'd still about the same, but with another person. It'd be neat if there was a similar event where Ruka x Hat Guy becomes more canon... (or at least game canon) They'll probably bring up the Ghost thing from the 5th.. I heard its already out in Japan, or close and sometime in the next few months, so it's just waiting for it to be in the US for me to see I guess.


	12. Truth

Kaze slowed his D-wheel to a stop as I took in the scenery around us. Lots and lots of junk was piled up high, but due to the size of the room, it was actually not even taking up over a fourth of the room. "Welcome... Team 5Ds," a robotic sounding voice said.

"That's Zone alright," Kaze muttered before driving off towards where the voice came from, the other heading towards it too. Yusei was the first to get there and quickly slid to a stop before getting off his D-wheel and facing who I figured to be Zone. It was hard to tell because with all the junk, a metal pod didn't really stick out.

"Finally decided to show yourself, huh," Jack asked.

"I have seen all your duels... Very well done. I expected as much from Team 5Ds," Zone said before his pod turned towards my direction, causing sweat to appear on my face as I inched closer towards Kaze. "But more importantly... Sherry and Kaze... You are on their side," Zone continued.

"The past cannot be changed! I've realized that! So for that reason, I'll only fight for the future from now on," Sherry shouted. Zone didn't reply and still kept his look in our direction. More specifically, Kaze's.

"And you...? Do you not remember anything? Do you not remember that it is_ I_ who created you? You are just going to turn against your creator like that...? I do understand that I put you under Sherry's orders, but you should know better than to join her in betrayal," Zone said. Kaze started shaking as sweat appeared on his face. I slowly put my hands around one of his fists, causing Kaze to stop shaking briefly and look down at me. He gave me a small nod before returning his attention to Zone.

"Ghost or not, these guys are my friends! I won't let you destroy the place where they live," Kaze shouted.

"Ya got that right! We won't let you destroy Neo Domino," Crow shouted.

"And I made a promise to Bruno that I would save the future, so that's what I'll do," Yusei shouted.

"You mean Antinomy," Zone said, causing Yusei to twitch slightly. "Besides. What are the lot of you actually capable of? You all use Synchro Monster, which are the very reason that the future is in ruin... I did so much to get rid of Momentum and save mankind. I created Antinomy and Aporia, as well as sent Paradox," Zone continued.

"So you could get your plan to work... Bruno...! Bruno was...! I'm going to stop the Arc Cradle no matter what," Yusei shouted. I heard someone chuckle lightly and I quickly looked around to see who it was.

"So that's what it is," Kaze muttered, causing me to turn back to him. My eyes widened when I saw he was smiling.

"D-Don't tell me... You're not really with him, are you," I asked.

"No, but it does have to do with Zone," Kaze said, causing me to turn back to the man in the pod.

"What is it," Sherry asked.

"All this time he's been saying I was a Ghost... and I actually started to believe him, but what he just said... It means that I'm not a Ghost at all," Kaze said.

"That is correct," Zone said, causing everyone to go silent.

"Explain this! What's the meaning of this," Sherry shouted.

"Very well. Since he has his memories back, there's no point in pretending anymore," Zone muttered. "You see. A long time ago, before I came here from the future, there was a Ghost. The first one ever built, and he did share a strong resemblance to Kaze here. But due to the side effects that would take place during time travel on a Ghost's body and programing, _GST-001_ was left behind in the future," Zone said. "So, in the end, everything about _GST-001_ that was told to you has been true, besides the fact that it is this boy," Zone continued.

"Then why lie to us in the first place," Sherry hissed.

"Its quite simple actually. When I found you and asked you to join me, do you remember what you said," Zone asked. Sherry didn't respond, and her stone hard face didn't soften either. "I believe you said how you couldn't take the offer because you were afraid of losing Kaze as a friend. So I told you that I would let him come with us," Zone said.

"Sherry," Kaze asked.

"But that doesn't explain why you told me he was a Ghost or the fact that he was acting like he actually was one," Sherry snarled.

"By a pure stroke of luck, when your friend woke up, he had been inflicted with an injury," Zone said.

"An injury," I asked as I looked towards Kaze.

"Yeah... When Sherry and I were flying to wherever we were headed after we fell out of the shuttle... I was actually hit in the head by a part of the shuttle that broke loose," Kaze muttered.

"So then... You mean," Sherry trailed off.

"That's correct. When he woke up, he had amnesia, and couldn't remember anything. Not even his name. It was at this time that I realized the resemblance between _GST-001_ and him. Leaving him with Sherry would result in her getting distracted, so I handed him off to Jose, Lucciano, and Placcido. They saw him as _GST-001_, and I simply went along with it," Zone said.

"You," Sherry hissed and started going forward as if she was going to tear Zone to piece and throw him into the piles of junk around us.

"Sherry. We have to stay focused... What happened happened," Kaze muttered.

"That is correct. You wish to stop the Arc Cradle, do you not? I am connected to the Support Gear. Defeat me and you save Neo Domino," Zone said.

"Just what I've been waiting for," Yusei said and started walking forward.

"Wait," Kaze said, causing Yusei to freeze.

"What is it," Yusei asked.

"Sherry saw that you die sometime on the Arc Cradle, right...? This may be it," Kaze said.

"So you're saying we should just give up," Crow shouted.

"No... Just that Yusei shouldn't duel. Someone else should," Kaze muttered.

"W-what! Kaze, you can't honestly mean," I trailed off as tears formed in my eyes.

"Of course. Yusei is important to all you guys and the future, so I'll take Zone on," Kaze said as he removed his duel disk from his D-wheel.

"But Kaze... Then...! Then you'll die instead," I shouted.

"That's just a risk I'll have to take then," Kaze muttered as he walked up next to Yusei, who gave him a nod of approval before returning back to the others. My eyes widened as Kaze suddenly collapsed.

"Kaze," I shouted and quickly ran over to his side and knelt down before I shook his shoulders lightly. "Kaze, what's wrong," I asked. Kaze didn't respond but slowly clenched his fists, filling them with the scraps before trying to push himself up, only getting a few inches off of the ground. Sherry joined me by his side and she easily helped him to his feet and draped his arm over her shoulder to help him stand.

"You..! You did something, didn't you, Zone," Sherry shouted.

"No. I did not. But if you must have someone to blame, blame that girl beside you. She is the one who hurt him in the first place," Zone said.

"Ruka," Sherry asked.

"I... Well, it _is_ true that I did deal the most damage to him in our duel, but," I trailed off.

"That's a lie! It isn't Ruka's fault," Jack shouted.

"That's right! Its _your _fault for making us fight him in the first place," Rua shouted.

"Jack... Rua," I muttered.

"Regardless of who's fault it is... Kaze can't duel. Besides Yusei, I don't think anyone else can stand up against Zone. And if he does duel," Sherry trailed off.

"I don't have a choice," Yusei said.

"Wait a second," a voice said, causing us all to freeze. Some of the junk ahead of us started to shake and little bits of electricity slowly came out of it until finally a destroyed Aporia emerged.

"You're still alive," Jack asked.

"Zone... You're opponent will be me," Aporia said as he turned towards Zone, electricity still randomly flowing out of him.

"W-what," Jack asked.

"Why would you want to duel him," I asked.

"Because during my duel with you guys, I found my answer. Even though I experienced great despair three times in my life, I kept going. Only now do I realize that its because I never lost hope for a better future," Aporia said, causing our eyes to widen. "Zone! I want you to remember hope as well. After all, you always have had hope for Team 5Ds. You've helped them all along the way to evolve because you've had high hopes for them. If not, you would have killed them all instead of leaving the future to them," Aporia continued, leaving us even more stunned.

"This hope you speak of does not exist," Zone said.

"But you've once had a great amount, and I'll make you-," Aporia started when a large amount of electricity flew out of him, causing him to stagger back and nearly fall.

"Aporia," Kaze shouted but quickly winced as well.

"Just rest for now. We might need you to to help us duel later on if things get bad," Sherry muttered, in which Kaze hesitantly nodded.

"Betrayed by all three of you in one day it seems... Very well. I'll just start off with you then, Aporia," Zone muttered. Then the duel started.

* * *

><p>Reviews:<p>

bryan102694: Pretty self explanatory here. For the moment, at least, he is going to be recovering. Aporia deserves his spot light time, in my opinion xD

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><p>Notes:<p>

- In case you're wondering, its not going to be like 'I love you 8D' back and forth after the Arc Cradle. There will be a few chapters that could be filler, if you want to consider them as that. I actually thought that it'd be neat to have a few chapters based off of songs that remind of of the story, so if any of you have a song that reminds you of the story, feel free to let me now. I was going to use these to build up the relationship between the characters since none of them are in the position where if they weren't in life threatening danger that they'd start dating like that.

- Since the Aporia/Zone duel would pretty much be the same as the anime, and not really that important besides seeing their cards, I'm going to skip over it and if there another duel that isn't shown in the anime, I'll try to put more detail to it since I've been getting kind of lazy with the duels...

- To all of you who figured I wouldn't make Kaze actually a Ghost, you get a cookie. I actually had planned it to be a bluff all along since if he really was a Ghost, there really wouldn't be a happy ending, and I can't write good non-happy endings... Hope this doesn't confuse anyone. (This does not mean that Ruka will end up with the Hat guy and it doesn't mean that she won't... Its just a statement xD)


	13. God

"Aporia," Rua shouted as the large man hit the ground, his life points at zero. We all ran over to his side, save Kaze and Sherry, who walked due to Kaze's injuries.

"Sorry. I just couldn't win. I couldn't respond to the hope you all gave me," Aporia muttered.

"That's not true... With your help.. we've been able to see Zone's help, and that one of the best things you could have done," Kaze said as he slowly let go of Sherry, staggering a bit before lowering himself to one knee.

"Ah... _GST-001_... Its you again," Aporia muttered. I was about to protest but Kaze nodded. The two said a few things to each other that I couldn't hear before Kaze brought his voice back up so we could all hear it.

"You did good, Aporia... Just take a nice long rest after this. You deserve it," Kaze muttered. Aporia took in a slow breath before grabbing what used to be his duel disk and throwing it past us, towards what I saw as the junk pile. Then he stopped moving, his arm still out stretched as his eyes dimmed. Kaze silently returned his arm to his side before slowly raising to his feet. "Thanks... Aporia," Kaze muttered.

"Woah! Look at that," Rua shouted, causing us to turn. My eyes widened when I saw Kaze's D-wheel had wings. But that's not what surprised me.

"No...! No, you can't be serious," I shouted as I turned back to Kaze.

"Ruka," Rua asked.

"Kaze, if you go through with this duel...! You'll end up like Yusei would have! You'll die! Your wounds are too much and-," Sherry started but Kaze silently walked past us and stopped next to his D-wheel.

"Yusei is far more important than I am. If I go down, at least I'll take Zone and this place with me," Kaze said.

"There is not much time left. You better make up your mind about this," Zone said.

"I already have," Kaze said.

"Kaze, you can't do this! It'd be bad enough if we lost Yusei, but if I lost you, I don't know what I'll do," I shouted, not caring if anyone heard. For all I cared right now, they didn't even exist. Right now, I had to convince Kaze not to do it. I was about to say more when someone put their hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw it was Sherry. "Sherry," I asked.

"You, of all people, should know that Kaze won't go down without a darn good fight... That is, if he does down," Sherry smiled.

"Very well then," Zone muttered as Momentum started coursing through his pod and the walls of the room. The dome above us slowly started disappearing. The first thing I noticed what the building where Rua and I lived, but it was upside down.

"The Arc Cradle has a different source of gravity," Jack muttered.

"Zone was right... We're running out of time. Look how close we are," Kaze muttered as he picked his helmet up off his seat. The Arc Cradle started shining brightly four large rectangle appeared in the sky. Zone turned away from us and I saw his pod appear on the rectangles.

"I am Zone. Neo Domino City will be destroyed by the Arc Cradle shortly, and a new future will be made. Citizens, prepare yourself for the moment of death," Zone said before turning back to us. "The duel field will be the sky. With that aside, let us start out duel... Kaze Kokoro," Zone said.

"Kaze," I muttered as Kaze he replaced his hat with his helmet, a dark visor appearing over his eyes.

"Don't worry! I promise I won't lose," Kaze smiled.

"You told her that last time and you didn't stay safe," Sherry pointed out.

"Y-you heard that," I asked as my cheeks got hot.

"No, you just told me," Sherry smiled.

"How can you be teasing me at a time like this," I mumbled.

"Kaze. Before you go," Jack muttered, causing Kaze to look up, although it was sort of hard to tell because of his visor almost being pure black. "I know we haven't known each other that long, but you're our last hope. Take this card," Jack said and held out Red Demon's Dragon.

"Jack," Kaze muttered.

"Hey, same goes for me," Crow smiled as he pulled out Black Winged Dragon. And it went like this until all of the Signers ended up giving Kaze their Dragons.  
>"Guys," Kaze muttered.<p>

"Well, I don't have a card for you, so all I can leave you with is my prayers," Sherry muttered.

"I promise it won't be like last time! I'll win this for all of you guys, as well as our friends we lost," Kaze smiled before his D-wheel raised onto one wheel so the red wings could shoot out once more, allowing him to fly into the sky after Zone.

"Don't worry. He's strong... Wounded or not, he'll come out on top," Sherry smiled. I turned back to the four screens in the sky and watched as Kaze followed Zone around in the sky.

"Compared to you, I am a god," Zone said.

"A god, huh," Kaze asked.

"Who does he think he is," Rua asked.

"I have seen your duels. I have seen your adventure. But you cannot win here at the Arc Cradle. Do you not understand the definition of me being a god," Zone asked.

"I understand you loud and clear! Just because you think you're going with God's will doesn't mean anything! Even if it is God's will, I'll go through whatever I have to in order to keep my friends safe," Kaze said. " I may not be as strong as Yusei or the others, and I'll accept that, but one things for sure, powerful or not, I'll stop you and carve a new future," Kaze continued.

"Let's settle this once and for all then," Zone said.

_[Zone: 4000 LP / Kaze: 4000]_

* * *

><p><em>Notes:<em>

For some reason, this chapter wasn't uploaded initially... I was going through the chapters and I noticed I had 13 for the first part, when I have 14. Sorry if this confused anyone majorly ^^'_  
><em>


	14. Temporal Machine Gods

For this duel, I tried to do what they do in the anime where the characters usually narrate the effects and stuff because if not, it was a 'He said' 'She said' back and forth duel and that got sort of boring. With that aside, I hope you enjoy the chapter ^-^

* * *

><p>"I'll take the lead," Zone said as he picked up his card. <em>[Speed Counters: 1]<em> "When I have no monsters on my field, I can summon Temporal Machine God Metaion without a tribute," Zone continued as he set one of his large cards down on the sky, which followed him for a while until it changed into a large monster, one that we had already seen in Aporia's duel. On the purple gem, a large face suddenly appeared and I swore I saw Rua jump a little._ [Attack: 0]_

"On the first turn, he already got one out," Sherry muttered.

"Look on the bright side! Zone can't attack this turn, so Kaze is safe," Rua said.

"I'll set three cards face down and end my turn," Zone said.

"Then its my move," Kaze said as the wings on his D-wheel flapped harder to allow him to catch up to Zone._ [Speed Counters: 2]_ "I'll summon Axe Dragonute in attack," Kaze shouted as a large black dragon covered with armor and wielding an axe appeared._ [Attack: 2000]_

"Alright! Now he can take that thing down," Rua shouted.

"If you don't remember, they can't be destroyed, and Zone won't take any damage either. If he does attack, he'll be digging his own grave since Metaion's effect will leave his field open," Sherry said.

"I'll end my turn with two face downs," Kaze said before placing the cards on his duel disk.

"So my duel with Aporia wasn't worthless to you after all," Zone muttered._ [Speed Counters: 3]_ "During my Standby Phase, due to Metaion's effect, it will return to my deck," Zone said before his monster faded and his deck was shuffled. "That will be all," Zone said.

"This duel is in the bag if Kaze can pull out another monster," Rua said, still being as optimistic as he was during Aporia's duel. In that duel...

"All duels can turn in the blink of an eye," Sherry muttered.

"My turn," Kaze said. _[Speed Counters: 4]_ Kaze paused and looked over his cards for a second, no doubt trying to read which strategy would save him if Zone had a trap. "I'll summon X-Head Cannon," Kaze shouted, causing Rua to promptly throw his fist in the air.

"Look at that! 2000 from his Dragonute, another 1800 from X-Head Cannon, and if he has a Speed Spell, we're done," Rua cheered.

"Zone isn't someone who would lose that easy. You saw his duel with Aporia. He has something up his sleeve, that's for sure," Yusei said.

"X-Head Cannon, attack Zone directly," Kaze shouted. His monster's cannon slowly charged up until it fired. Rua started cheering again when it hit Zone.

"Told ya! Told ya he could win," Rua grinned.

"Look again," Jack said, causing Rua to look back to the duel, seeing a trap in front of Zone.

"When I control no monsters, I can activate The High Priestess' Staff from my hand," Zone said as the cannon's beam slowly faded. "Not only will it end the Battle Phase, it will make you take 500 points of damage," Zone continued as a blue light emitted from the card, which thinned to a small beam before shooting through Kaze.

"Kaze," I shouted as his D-wheel started swerving slightly. _[Kaze: 3500 LP]_

"That idiot...! I told him he couldn't do this," Sherry muttered as she clenched her fists.

"I'll set two cards face down... and that's it," Kaze muttered.

"You should have left this duel to Yusei," Zone said. _[Speed Counters: 5]_ "I activate Zero Machine Ain. When I control no monsters, I can Normal Summon one Level 10 or higher monster without offering. I'll summon Temporal Machine God Tzaphion," Zone said as a circle appeared beside him, in which the giant blue creature flew threw. Once it materialized, a woman appeared on the gem. "Then I activate Infinite Machine Ain Soph by getting rid of Zero Machine Ain," Zone said as the portal gained a second circle, creating an infinity sign. "And finally, Infinite Light Ain Soph Aur can be activated by removing Machine Ain Soph," Zone continued as the infinity sign gained another circle on top of it. "I'll use Infinite Light Ain Soph Aur to summon Temporal Machine God Razion," Zone said as another one of his monsters joined the blue one on the field, also gaining a face on it's gem.

"This is bad...! Really bad! Now he doesn't have to return his monsters during his standby phase," Rua shouted.

"Temporal Machine God Razion. Attack X-Head Cannon," Zone said.

"I activate Speed Spell - Silver Contrail! When I have five or more Speed Counters, I can increase one monster's attack by 1000... And I chose Razion," Kaze said, causing our eyes to widen. _[Attack: 1000]_

"What's the point of that? You're just wasting the card," Rua shouted.

"No... I'm sure he's using it correctly. Just wait and see," Sherry smiled.

"Then I'll activate my second Silver Contrail, giving your monster another 1000 attack," Kaze said._ [Attack: 2000]_

"I have to agree with your friends. What's the point? You'll only deal yourself damage," Zone said.

"And finally, I activate Magic Cylinder! Not only will you take 2000 points of damage, but it negates your attack as well," Kaze said.

"You knew all along," I asked as I turned to Sherry.

"I have dueled Kaze after all. He's perfect at using reflecting damage," Sherry said as Razion flew through one of the cylinders and flew out the other, attacking Zone. Zone didn't even flinch, but then again, the attack missed him by a long shot._ [Zone: 2000 LP]_

"Then Tzaphion will attack your monster," Zone said.

"I activate Torture Wheel and equip it to Tzaphion! With this, Tzaphion can no longer attack, and on my Standby Phases, you take 500 points of damage," Kaze shouted. A wheel erupted out of Kaze's card and spun it's way over to Zone's monster, ropes coming out and trapping the monster against it.

"Turn end," Zone said.

"This is awesome! Kaze can win this," Rua cheered.

"Zone has no cards in his hand, no face downs, and only Tzaphion is standing between Kaze and victory," Yusei said.

"My turn," Kaze said. _[Speed Counters: 6]_ "Now due to Torture Wheel, you take 500 points of damage," Kaze shouted as the wheel shot out a light which encased Zone. _[Zone: 1500 LP]_ "I activate Speed World 2's effect! I can remove 4 Speed Counters and show you a Speed Spell in order to deal 800 points of damage," Kaze shouted before turning over Speed Spell - Curse of Fate. _[Zone_: _700 LP] [Kaze's Speed Counters: 2]_

"Perfect. With that, he can deal 1000 points of damage if he equips it to Axe Dragonute," Sherry smiled. So we all sat there, eager for the next move that would end this, but neither Kaze nor Zone did anything. Sherry quickly ran over to her D-wheel and started hitting some buttons so fast that I could hardly see what she was doing. "Kaze! What's going on up there," Sherry shouted as Kaze appeared on her screen, causing us to all run over.

"That blow from earlier... and my injuries... They're just acting up, that's all," Kaze muttered, one hand clenched against his shoulder.

"You've only got a little more to go! You can do this," Rua shouted.

"Sorry, guys... Guess I should of listened to you," Kaze muttered before the screen went black.

"Hey! Kaze," Sherry shouted and started hitting the side of the D-wheel with her palm.

"W-what happened," I shouted.

"Either he cut the call or something went wrong," Sherry muttered. I put my hands together and gave a silent prayer to the spirits to help Kaze finish this. From where we were, the tip of the Arc Cradle almost hit the top of the tallest building in Neo Domino. If Rua crawled onto Jack's shoulders, he probably could have touched it. What drew me out of my thoughts is when I heard a roar, which no doubt belonged to the Crimson Dragon. I turned towards the closest screen and saw the Crimson Dragon floating behind Kaze as my mark lit up, as well as the others'.

"The Crimson Dragon," Crow muttered as Kaze was enveloped with a red light. When it faded, my heart race increased as Kaze slowly sat up.

"Awesome," Rua shouted.

"I... I activate Speed Spell - Curse of Fate... Since I have 2 Speed Counters, I can activate this card to put two Curse Counters on one of my monsters. I chose Axe Dragonute," Kaze said, occasionally rubbing his eyes to get the sleep out of them as two nails appeared on the side of his monster. "Finally, I remove one of these counters to deal half of Dragonute's attack to you, which is 1000," Kaze shouted, fully awake now. This time when Zone took the damage, he screamed in pain before there was a large explosion. _[Zone: 0 LP]_ The lights on the Arc Cradle slowly faded until they were off and I sighed with relief.

"He... He did it," Rua muttered. "_Yahoo,_" Rua screamed, happily throwing his fist in the air. That's when the ground started shaking.

"Everyone, hurry! We have to get off here," Sherry shouted. We all nodded before running off. Just as our D-wheels got into sight, the junk beneath us disappeared and we all fell, screaming as we had when we entered the Arc Cradle. Although this time, instead of nearly falling to my death, there was a bright light and when it faded, we were all standing on the ground.

"The Crimson Dragon saved us," Yusei muttered as our marks stopped glowing.

"Hey... Where's Kaze? I can't see his D-wheel anymore," Rua muttered as he put his hand over his eyes and stared towards the now frozen Arc Cradle.

"Don't tell me that he'll face Yusei's future now," Sherry shouted as she turned to the Arc Cradle as well.

"N-no! We changed the future, didn't we...? No one should have died," I shouted as tears formed in my eyes against my will. No one said anything as we silently watched the Arc Cradle, waiting for the red D-wheel to fly out any second. But it never did. In fact, the Arc Cradle started disappearing. "N-no! Wait! You can't go yet...! Not while Kaze is inside," I shouted and desperately ran forward, as if I could run up to the Arc Cradle itself and stop it, but there was a railing stopping me from going any further, and also falling down a steep hill. My knees buckled out from under me as my tears got even heavier, and right now, I didn't care who was watching. I could care less if I look like a fool in front of Sherry and everyone else. My heart was aching and it wouldn't stop. I desperately cried out Kaze's name, as if screaming it at the top of my lungs would bring him here, but in my heart I knew it wouldn't, no matter how hard I believed. To make things worth, I swore I could hear him.

"Geez. Do you really think I'm_ that _irresponsible," Kaze's voice asked.

"K-Kaze," Sherry asked.

"Y-you heard too," I asked as I looked up towards the older blond beside me. I saw her eyes were staring behind me and I followed her gaze until I saw a brown haired boy wearing a red jacket and red hat.

"If you think I break all my promises, maybe I should just stop making them," Kaze muttered as he placed his hand on my head. I clumsily wiped away my tears and sniffled a little before looking up at Kaze. Without thinking, I quickly hugged him, squeezing him as tight as I could, causing him to yelp out and fall to the ground, pulling me with him because I wouldn't let go. "Hey! Stop it, it hurts," Kaze shouted

"Oh be quiet, you big softie," Sherry muttered before joining me in squeezing Kaze, causing him to yelp again.

"_Stop it!_"

* * *

><p>These are just some random things I came with while I was making the decks up where the characters either break the fourth wall or get pretty out of character:<p>

**_Decks:_**

"Am I the only one who noticed... it doesn't seem like Kaze has any tuners in his deck," Aki said.

"I noticed that too," Yusei muttered.

"That's because Kaze has several decks to use, and based on the situation, he uses which deck seems to fit. During this duel, he saw that Zone believes we all use Synchros for most of our duels, but what Kaze is doing is trying to show Zone that we can duel just fine without them," Sherry said. "To top it off, for this style that Kaze is going with, he doesn't even need Synchros. Its the perfect deck to counter Zone... And he knew this," Sherry muttered.

"Was Kaze really thinking that far ahead," I asked.

"He is handling the duel pretty good," Crow muttered.

"Either that, or he accidentally took his wrong deck," Sherry said.

"Kaze wouldn't be that absent minded," I muttered.

"You'd be surprised," Sherry murmured.

"Guys," a voice shouted, causing us to look up. My eyes widened when I saw Kaze ride down next to us. "This isn't my good turbo deck! What am I gonna do," Kaze shouted.

"Get back in the duel, you idiot," Sherry shouted.

**_Villains:_**

"Wait just a second here," Zone said.

"What is it," Kaze asked.

"I'm the last boss, pretty much! Where the heck is my amazing combo that gives me all these good cards! I didn't even get to play my ace card in this duel," Zone shouted.

"Yeah, and I didn't get to duel with my deck that I wanted either, but this duel was fair and square. I've got the screen shot from that _random .org_ if you want proof," Kaze said.

"I demand we have another duel! At least let me play my ace! You even added some 20 cards that aren't even in my real deck," Zone shouted.

"Be quiet, we already went and changed some traps to monsters so you wouldn't lose on the second turn. You only had one card that wasn't in your deck anyway, change or no change," Rua sighed.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong>

-When I was first making the duel, when Zone is using the Infinity Light traps, I misread them at first that you could only special summon once per turn so I did the first summon when I saw you could use it as many times as you want, but either way it doesn't change that he'd summon it.

- For a note, the Crimson Dragon showing up doesn't mean that Kaze is a signer, since they'll all lose their marks in a few days anyway, its just the Crimson Dragon healing him a little so he can save the other signers.

- The deck for Kaze is using the WC 2011 ban list, so if it happened to change as of a few months or whatever, just have that in mind. I also had a friend figure out a Zone deck, although for this duel, as stated above, there was only one card that wasn't in Zone's deck, so it didn't really matter.

- After this, as I said, I'll be doing short chapters, so to say, to give more weight on the scale, since I can't think of a better analogy. But when they are done, the story will pretty much be over. You'll see why when I finish the next chapter.

* * *

><p>Deck Recipes: (All of these are with the English Names since I copied them from WC 2011 for Kaze and the list my friend gave me for Zone)<p>

Zone:

_**Monsters:**_

Temporal Machine God Sandaion  
>Temporal Machine God Michion<br>Temporal Machine God Hanion  
>Temporal Machine God Raphion<br>Temporal Machine God Gabrion  
>Temporal Machine God Camion<br>Temporal Machine God Metaion  
>Temporal Machine Priestess (x3)<br>Temporal Machine God Razion  
>Temporal Machine God Tzaphion<br>Temporal Machine God Zadion  
>Ultimate Temporal Machine God Sephiron<p>

_**Speed Spells:**_

Smashing Ground (x3)  
>Mystical Space Typhoon<br>Book of Moon

**_Traps:_**

Zero Machine Ain (x3)  
>Infinite Machine Ain Soph (x2)<br>Infinite Light Ein Soph Aur  
>The Fool's Ruling<br>The High Priestess' Staff  
>The Magician's Wisdom<br>Solemn Judgment  
>Solemn Warning (x2)<br>Ultimate Offering (x3)  
>Bottomless Trap Hole (x2)<br>Compulsory Evacuation Device (x2)  
>Dimensional Prison (x2)<p>

If anyone is curious, the card Zone got that really wasn't his was Ultimate Offering. And as I said, this was made by my friend and I just went along with it. Again, it didn't even matter xD

* * *

><p>Kaze's Decks:<p>

**Ground Decks:**

_Deck__ 1:_ (This deck is the one used against Ruka. Its the one Kaze uses when he isn't totally serious about winning. If his duel against Zone was on the ground, he wouldn't have used this deck, but his other deck**. **TF5 Ban List)

_**Monsters:**_

Beast Striker  
>Behemoth, the King of All Animals<br>Chain Dog  
>Des Kangaroo<br>Des Koala  
>Egotistical Ape<br>Elephun  
>Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest<br>Key Mouse  
>King of the Beasts<br>Lock Cat  
>Mine Mole<br>Moja  
>Rescue Cat<br>Rinyan, Lightsworn Rouge  
>Ryoko, Lightsworn Hunter<br>Sea Koala  
>Super-Nimble Mega Hampster<br>The Earth - Hex-Sealed Fusion  
>Tree Other<br>Vampire Koala  
>X-Saber Airbellum<br>X-Saber Pashuul  
>XX-Saber Fulhelmknight<br>XX-Saber Garsem  
>Yellow Baboon, Archer of the forest<br>Snipe Hunter

_**Spells:**_

D.D.R. - Different Dimension Reincarnation  
>Double Cyclone<br>Fissure (x2)  
>Hammer Shot<br>Hand Destruction  
>Lightning Vortex<br>Polymerization  
>Poy of Avarice<br>Spiritual Forest  
>Stray Lambs<br>Unicorn Beacon  
>Wild Nature's Release<br>Heavy Storm  
>Double Summon<p>

_**Traps:**_

Beast Rising  
>Beast Soul Swap<br>Berserking  
>Chain Whirlwind<br>Compulsory Evacuation Device  
>Dark Bribe<br>Dark Trap Hole  
>Horn of the Phantom Beast<br>Limit Reverse  
>Michizure<br>Mirror Force  
>Negate Attack<br>Raigeki Break (x3)  
>Sakuretsu Armor<br>Widespread Dud  
>Widespread Ruin<p>

**_Synchro/Fusion:_**

Flamvell Uruquizas  
>Koalo-Koala<br>Lightning Tricorn  
>Thunder Unicorn<br>Voltic Bicorn  
>X-Saber Urbellum<br>X-Saber Wayne  
>Naturia Beast<br>Ancient Fairy Dragon  
>Black Rose Dragon<br>Bleack-Winged Dragon  
>Power Tool Dragon<br>Red Dragon Archfiend  
>Stardust Dragon<br>Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

_Deck 2:_ (As stated above, this is Kaze's serious deck, which he only uses when he feels he really needs to win, so its a basically made for a quick win too, but with even heavier hits. WC 2011 Ban List. When I say not used in this story, I mean that this is the deck that I use in the game, but if Kaze broke out an Earthbound Immortal/God, it'd be crazy, but its included incase you want to make an exact copy of his full deck for some odd reason. I actually used this deck against my friends 'Quick Summon Egyptian God' deck, where he got Slifer out within the first few turns and I won pretty easily because when he had an attack of 7000 or something, I had Stone of Aztecs in attack with 300, so when he attacked it, I used Dimenson Wall and due to Aztecs effect, he took a whole 13,400 points of damage. Needless to say he never challenged me with that deck again ^-^')

_**Monsters:**_

Gene-Warped Warwolf (x3)  
>Prevent Rat<br>X-Saber Anu Piranha (x2)  
>Arcane Apprentice (x3)<br>Berserk Gorilla (x3)  
>[Not in this story but Earthbound Immortal Aslla Piscu (x2)]<br>Junk Synchron (x3)  
>Mist Valley Falcon (x2)<br>Shield Wing  
>Stone Statue of the Aztecs (x2)<br>The Tricky (x2)  
>Vice Dragon<br>X-Saber Airbellum  
>Zolga (x2)<p>

_**Spells:**_

Axe of Despair (x3)  
>Book of Moon<br>Burden of the Mighty  
>Card Destruction<br>[Not in this story but Mausoleum of the Emperor (x3)]  
>United We Stand (x2)<p>

_**Traps:**_

Dimension Wall (x3)  
>Draining Shield (x3)<br>Magic Cylinder (x2)  
>Mirror Force<br>Sakuretsu Armor (x3)  
>Scarp Iron Scarecrow (x2)<br>Threatening Roar (x2)  
>Waboku<br>Widespread Ruin (x3)

_**Synchro:**_

Ally of Justice Catastor  
>Ancient Fairy Dragon<br>Armory Arm  
>Black Rose Dragon<br>Brionic, Dragon of the Ice Barrier  
>Flamevell Uruquizas<br>Gaia Knight, the force of earth  
>Goyo Guardian<br>Junk Archer  
>Junk Warrior<br>Power Tool Dragon  
>Red Dragon Archfiend<br>Stardust Dragon  
>Thought Ruler Archfiend<p>

**Turbo Decks:**

_Deck 1_: (This is an alteration of Kaze's serious deck, but it doesn't have Synchros in it, because at the time when Kaze had made this deck originaly, he figured that to get better, he'd have a deck where he could survive without Synchros, and thus made this deck. He hardly uses it unless, again, he's entirely serious or, as in this chapter, takes the wrong deck.)

**_Monsters:_**

7 Colored Fish (x3)  
>Gene-Warped Warwolf (x3)<br>Sabersaurus  
>Vorse Raider<br>X-Head Cannon (x3)  
>X-Saber Anu piranha<br>Abyss Solider  
>Axe Dragonute (x2)<br>Berserk Gorilla (x2)  
>Chainsaw Insect (x3)<br>Emperor Sem (x3)  
>Gaia Soul the Combustible Collective (x2)<br>Gear Golem The Moving Fortess(x3)  
>Mist Valley Falcon<br>The Tricky

_**Spell:**_

Speed Spell - Brain Control (x2)  
>Speed Spell - Card Destruction (x2)<br>Speed Spell - Curse of Fate  
>Speed Spell - Creature Swap (x2)<br>Speed Spell - Forbidden Chalice  
>Speed Spell - Silver Contrails (x2)<br>Speed Spell - Speed Energy (x3)

_**Trap:**_

Dimension Wall (x3)  
>Magic Cylinder (x2)<br>Mirror Force  
>Negate Attack<br>Nightmare Wheel (x3)  
>Radiant Mirror Force<br>Sakuretsu Armor (x3)  
>Scrap-Iron Scarecrow (x2)<br>Torrential Tribute  
>Waboku<br>Widespread Ruin (x3)

_**Synchro:**_

Ancient Fairy Dragon  
>Armory Arm<br>Black Rose Dragon  
>Black Winged Dragon<br>Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier  
>Flamvell Uruquizas<br>Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth  
>Goyo Guardian<br>Junk Archer  
>Junk Destroyer<br>Junk Warrior  
>Power Tool Dragon<br>Red Dragon Archfiend  
>Stardust Dragon<p>

And I didn't get to getting Kaze's usual turbo deck because I forgot my game at my grandmas while I was there, but it'd be an edit of his first ground deck, so you pretty much know what it is. I doubt he'll even use it during the story though, so what does it matter.


	15. Day One

I'll be happy to inform you that after the entire Arc Cradle incident, things actually didn't return to normal. That's not usually a good thing, but for me, it is. Before, I was hardly able to talk to Kaze because I was always so nervous. Now, talking to him just seemed... I dunno, _natural? _I didn't really blush unless I was embarrassed, and neither did he. But then again, he never did unless he was... "Hey, Kaze," I said, drawing Kaze's attention from from the ducks that were eating the bread he gave them.

"Yeah," he asked.

"I was wondering if-," I started when Kaze's phone started ringing.

"Hold that thought," Kaze muttered and pulled out his red and black phone as he stood up, easily flipping it open with his thumb before raising it to his ear. "Hello," Kaze asked. I sat there quietly, trying to overhear and see who he was talking to, but to no avail. "T-that was today? I-I'm so sorry," Kaze said. "I'll be right over! Just give me a second," Kaze continued before closing his phone and turning towards me.

"What's wrong," I asked as Kaze put his phone back in his pocket.

"I forgot that I promised to go with Sherry on a shopping trip... She's pretty mad," Kaze muttered as he adjusted his hat back to a normal angle.

"Oh," was all I said. What else could I say...? I acknowledge her as a rival, and she did with me... Only Kaze didn't catch on to it.

"Sorry...! We'll have to finish this later," Kaze said.

"Its fine," I muttered. Kaze nodded his thanks before jumping onto his D-wheel and driving off. Once he was out of sight, I sighed. I let my thoughts wander for a while, thinking about what their little 'date' would be like. Would it be like when I showed Kaze around town...? Would they go out for ice cream...? Or would it be like that one movie that I used to watch when I was younger, with the puppies, and when they were eating spaghetti and they'd end up kissing? I quickly shook my head and sighed. They wouldn't do something like that... Or at least I hope not. I shook my head once more before standing up, wiping off whatever strands of grass that happened to end up on my pants before starting on my walk home. Of course I'd be the only one who'd be there, since Rua was out with Tenpei as usual, or some other friend from Duel Academy. Regardless, as I opened the door, I called out for Rua to make sure that he wasn't here. After getting no reply, I shut the door behind me and walked over to the couch and put my school bag on it before walking to the kitchen to pick up an apple or whatever food that Rua didn't like and left in a pile near the fridge for me. Usually this was fruits or vegetables. After picking up a few different bananas and setting them down due to the fact that they were brown, I found a yellow-green banana and started peeling it. That's when I noticed a blue Post-it note next to the pile that I now made wider. I took a bite out of the banana before picking up the note and reading it to myself.

_'Hey Ruka! Me and Tenpei are gonna be hanging out at the new arcade for a while, so can you have some ramen ready for me when I get home at around 6?'_

I sighed. This was so typical of Rua. Regardless, I kept on reading.

_'PS. I'm surprised that you actually seem so calm, given its you know who's birthday soon XP'_

I remained silent for a few second. Not only because I had no idea who this person was, but also because my brother had put the emoticon at the end of the letter. I took another bite of my banana as I set the note down before looking to the calender. It was November 7th, and a Tuesday. I sat there skimming over the days until I saw my writing on the 21th in red in._ 'Kaze's Birthday'_ was written inside a small heart. The heart, I noted, was drawn by Rua, and I could tell because of its squiggly lines. But Rua's heart aside... Kaze's Birthday? How could I have forgotten! ... _Well..._There was the whole Arc Cradle incident, but... I was about to take another bite out of my banana when I remembered something else. I didn't have a gift. Just as I was about to enter a mini-freak out stage, there was a knock at my door. "Who is it," I asked before finishing off my banana and throwing the peel in the garbage.

"Its Kaze." I stumbled over my two feet on my run to the door, but managed to get there without tripping or ruining anything. I took a deep breath before opening the door.

"He-," I started but I stopped when I saw Sherry was beside him. "Oh," I muttered.

"Well, hello to you too," Sherry smiled.

"Well... Come on in," I muttered as I pulled the door open more.

"Something wrong," Kaze asked.

"No. Of course not," I said and forced a smile, which neither of the two believed.

"Well then, what we really came here for," Sherry trailed off.

"Oh... Right. I'll be back in a few then," Kaze said before he started walking off.

"W-where are you going," I asked.

"I'd like to talk to you about something," Sherry smiled all too sweetly.

"So while Sherry talks to you, I'm gonna go mess around at the D-Wheel shop," Kaze said before continuing on his way, leaving Sherry and I in the room all alone. Neither of us said anything for the first few seconds. Sherry quietly closed the door with her foot before lowering herself down so we were eye level

"Yes," I asked.

"I just wanted to give you some forewarning, so to speak," Sherry said.  
>"A forewarning about what," I asked, doing my best to keep a straight face in front of my rival. Sherry opened her mouth and was about to say something when I saw her eyes trail off to the right. I slowly followed her gaze and saw she was looking at the calender, causing my face to turn red. "T-That wasn't me! I-I didn't draw that! It was Rua, all Rua," I shouted and put my hands out in front of me defensively as if to guard off any more questions. Sherry just smiled for a few seconds.<p>

"I see," Sherry muttered. "But, as I was saying, I'm here to forewarn you. I take it you know about Kaze's birthday that's coming up, given the state of your calender," the blond paused to stare at my face, which got a little more pink because of her bring the calender back up. "I'm going to end our little competition on Kaze's birthday, so that'll leave you fourteen days to try and make an impression strong enough," Sherry said before standing up.

"What's that suppose to mean," I asked.

"On Kaze's birthday, I'm going to confess. If he feels that way for me, he will most likely confess in return. If he feels that way for you, he will most likely deny and let me know there is another," Sherry said as she turned around and opened the door. "Until then. _Au revoir_," Sherry muttered before walking away, leaving me stunned. _Fourteen days...?_ This sounded like one of Rua's video games gone wrong...

"Uh... Did I miss something," Kaze asked as he peeked into the room, a small bag with the D-wheel shop from down the street's logo on it in his hands.

"No... Not really," I lied. "Why," I asked.

"Sherry looked so serious, that's all," Kaze sighed. "But anyway! Sherry kinda took me away from you this morning, so do you wanna go do something," Kaze asked.

"Sure... I guess. Anything you had in mind," I asked, eager to take advantage of the opportunity in order to see what Kaze wanted.

"That's what I was going to ask you, but... Do you want to go back to my place? I got some new D-Wheel parts and I kinda want to try them out. We could take it for a test drive and everything," Kaze smiled.

"Sounds great... But... Before we go, can I ask you something now," I asked, fiddling my fingers nervously.

"Yeah," Kaze asked.

"Who do you like more...? Sherry or me," I asked, my cheeks turning pink.

"You're both irreplaceable friends to me, you both know that," Kaze said, his somewhat visible blue eyes sparkling happily. I held back a sigh.

"Right... Thanks," I muttered.

"D-Did I say something wrong," Kaze asked.

"N-no! Not at all! I just wanted to check... because... you've been hanging out with her a lot," I said, doing my best to keep my questioning tone of of my voice.

"Well you'll always be one of my closest friends, that's for sure! Don't ever forget that," Kaze grinned before putting his free hand on my head. I forced a more convincing smile.

"Thanks," I said.

"Now come on, we should hurry! If we do, we might be able to catch Sherry along to way and she can come too," Kaze said, causing my heart to sink.

"Right... Can't forget about her," I muttered. My cheeks turned slightly pink when Kaze grabbed my wrist.

"Then let's go," Kaze said before running off. I was in such a trance that I subconsciously started running as well. We were basically holding hands... So far so good, I guess... I'd have to get a lot further in fourteen days though if I was ever going win Kaze's heart...

* * *

><p><em><span>Notes:<span>_

- You can probably now see what I meant by the story will end after these chapters. I'm not going to do fourteen of them though. This will be Day One, then the next one might be Day Four or something.

- This chapter is also something I was referring to in the previous chapters with the songs. I probably phrased it wrong and didn't mean actually chapters based off of songs, but taking scenarios, you could say. For example, I was listening to the radio to try and get an idea for this chapter when _You Belong With Me_ came on. I used the scenario of the girlfriend, or friend in this scenario, taking the crush away as a start and just went from there. So if you have any scenarios that you think would fit or you would like to see, feel free to suggest them.


	16. Knight in Shining Armor

_Day Three~_

_[**Kaze:** 1500 LP] [**Sherry:** 1300 LP]_ "Koalo-Koala, attack Sherry directly," Kaze shouted before his extremely muscular monster ran forward and slammed it's fist into Sherry's D-wheel, causing the breaks to activate and slow Sherry to a stop._ [**Sherry:** 0 LP]_ "Nice duel, you guys," Kaze said as he slowed to a stop beside us.

"And here I figured a Battle Royal style would make you lose," Sherry giggled.

"If you didn't direct the damage all to Ruka, I would have lost," Kaze mumbled, not wanting to say it too loud in case Sherry got offended. "But with that aside, you've guys have gotten a lot better," Kaze said.

"Thanks," I muttered, still trying to blend in with the background so I wouldn't get any attention from Sherry than I needed. During the duel, she basically forgot about Kaze and directed everything towards me. as Kaze had just said. Any bit of effect damage she could get in... It was for that reason that I was eliminated from the Turbo Duel within the first couple turns.

"And as we agreed, since you won the duel, you get to pick where we go eat," Sherry said.

"Well, there's this new Italian restaurant. Anyone want to go there," Kaze asked. My head instantly shot up.

"N-no," I shouted, but quickly blushed once I realized how loud my outburst was. "I... Um... I mean... Can we not go there...? I'm... I'm not a fan of Italian," I said slowly, thinking of an excuse as I went along. Its always the Italian Restaurant where the romantic scene happen, and with Sherry, no doubt I'll feel like a sore thumb or that I'm getting in the way.

"If I'm not mistaken, I recall seeing you and Rua go the very same restaurant not too long ago," Sherry muttered, causing me to quickly bite my lip so I could keep back any other reaction.

"Well if that's the case, how about that one French restaurant on the outskirts of town! That sounds good," Kaze said.

"It has been a while since I've had any cuisine from home, and it'd be a nice treat," Sherry murmured. "Well, what do you say, Ruka," Sherry asked.

"I've never really been to there," I muttered.

"Then its perfect! Crow said he went there recently and it was pretty good," Kaze smiled.

"Alright then, if you insist," I muttered before getting back on my Duel Board.

* * *

><p>To say I was overwhelmed at the restaurant was an understatement. There was a large mural on the back wall, tables covered with white cloths and with wine glasses on them, and tons of waiters. The only restaurant I was used to was like McDonalds, where you get your food and sit down, but this place was way beyond that! "<em>Bonjour.<em>Will it be the three of you today," a waiter asked.

"Yes," Sherry said. The waiter nodded before walking off, leaving us to follow. "This reminds me of home," Sherry murmured, causing me to look up to the French woman beside me. Once the three of us sat down at the table, our black haired waiter set down the menus.

"I am terribly sorry to inform you, but all of the menus that are of this native language are of use, so to say. I hope you don't mind," he said.

"Its quite alright. I can read it just fine," Sherry said. Our waiter gave a nod before walking off.

"Uh... Sherry... I can't read these though," I muttered sheepishly.

"Well how about you try the_ frites, œufs _ or _pain grillé_, seeing as you probably won't like the rest," Sherry said, forgetting that I still had no idea what she was saying.

"Um," I muttered.

"She suggested the fries, eggs, and toast," Kaze said as he lower his menu.

"You know French," Sherry and I asked at the same time, both of us stunned.

"No, there a pictures near the things," Kaze said and turned his menu around before pointing towards the images, causing me to blush for not noticing.

"I take it you don't know much about the rest of the cuisine then," Sherry murmured.

"Well, during my time at Duel Academy, we did have _Foie gras_ sometimes... That was pretty good," Kaze said, causing my eyes to drift to my own menu to see a plate with some meat on it, covered with some seeds and with some sauce on it. After that, the three of us went silent, Sherry and Kaze because they were done picking what they wanted, and me because I was just getting started. Should I get something fancy like they were getting, or should I get something I knew I liked...? If I got something as simple as toast, would it be really embarrassing? There were so many questions, and for all I knew, not much time left. By the time I decided on getting the '_Croque Monsieur_', which was basically a ham and cheese sandwich, our waiter returned.

"Now, may I take your orders," he asked.

"I'd like the _Canard à l'Orange_," Sherry said before setting her menu down for the waiter to pick up.

"And I'll take the_ Foie gras_," Kaze said before doing the same.

"And... I'll have the, uh... _Croque_... _Monsieur_," I said, trying my best to pronounce the name correctly before giving my menu to the waiter. Just as the waiter was about to leave, there was a crash, followed by a large D-wheel driving through the front door, causing the other people to jump and gasp. The man on the black D-wheel had a visor that was even darker than Kaze's, covering his face entirely.

"I'm here for that punk from the duel the other day! The one in red," the man called out.

"Kaze," Sherry muttered, in which Kaze nodded slightly. If Kaze hadn't already went against Zone and survived, I would have been all against this, regardless of if he listened to me or not.

"What do you want with the_ 'punk'_ once you find him," Kaze asked as he stood up, causing the man to smirk.

"Duel me," he said.

"And why should he," Sherry asked as she stood up as well. I felt my chair get yanked out from under me, but just before I hit the ground, someone grabbed me by my wrist and roughly pulled me back up before placing their arm around my neck.

"If you don't, the brat gets it," the man on the D-wheel said.

"You cowards," Sherry hissed.

"If you want a duel, fine! Leave Ruka out of this," Kaze shouted.

"The brat goes free once you finish the duel," my captor said.

"Nobody else moves either," the other man barked. I started shaking as tears formed in my eyes.

"Kaze," I muttered.

"Like I said, if its a duel you want, its a duel your gonna get," Kaze snapped as his Duel Disk activated.

"Then let's take this outside," the man on the D-wheel said before driving his D-wheel out of the now destroyed entrance.

"Come on," my captor snapped and forcefully yanked me towards the other man, Kaze following.

"Once I defeat you, I'll be known as the best duelist in all of Neo Domino," the man shouted.

_[**Kaze**: 4000 LP] [**?**: 4000 LP]_

"Take the lead! You'll need it," the man smirked. Kaze didn't respond, but took his draw instead.

"I'll summon Rescue Cat in Attack Mode," Kaze shouted before setting his card down, letting the familiar gray and white cat to appear in front of him, but unlike during our duel against each other, it instantly went on the attack, understanding the situation._ [**Attack:** 300]_ "With Rescue Cat's effect, I can send it to the Cemetery in order to summon two Level 3 or lower Beast-Type monsters," Kaze continued. Rescue Cat quickly preformed a somersault into the air before becoming a puff of smoke. "I chose Lock Cat and X-Saber Airbellum," Kaze said. When the smoke evaporated, it revealed another pair of familiar monsters. _[Lock Cat: **Attack:** 1200] [X-Saber Airbellum:** Attack:** 1600]_ With those two on the field, it was no doubt what Kaze would do next."I tune my two monsters together! _He who was born from the blizzards of the past! Break your frozen shackles and freeze all who dare get in your path! Synchro Summon, Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Boundary_," Kaze shouted. Kaze's tuner monster transformed into three rings in which his non-tuner, Lock Cat, flew through. Lock Cat turned white before there was a flash of light and a roar. From the bright light, Brionic descended to the ground, hissing out it's cold breath more violently then it had before, eager for battle. "I'll set three face downs and that's all," Kaze said.

"So you're as good as they say you are," Kaze's opponent sneered as he drew his card. "Well, your not the only one who can get a good card on the first turn! When you control a monster and I don't, I can Special Summon Cyber Dragon," the man shouted before a large mechanical serpent like dragon appeared, but it quickly turned blue._ [**Defense:** 1600]_"Then I'll activate Hurricane! With this, I can return all of you're face downs to your hand," the man said.

"That's right! Show 'em who's boss," my captor shouted as Kaze picked up the cards.

"You actually only helped Kaze," I muttered.

"What's that," my captor growled.

"I'll set one monster face down and one card before activating Sealing Swords of Light! With this, you can attack for three whole turns," Kaze's opponent shouted before throwing the spell down, causing three sword to land between the two duelists. "Let's see you top that," the man smirked.

"My turn," Kaze muttered. "I activate Brionac's effect! I can discard as many cards as I want and return that many from the field to the owners hand! I'll start off with three and use them to return your face down monster, your face down, and Cyber Dragon," Kaze shouted before placing the cards in the Cemetery. Brionac took a deep breath before blowing a gust of freezing cold wind in the man's direction, sending the cards back to his hand. "I'll set down one card so I can activate Double Cyclone. I can destroy one of my spells or traps to destroy one of yours. So say good bye to your Sealing Swords," Kaze said. causing the man to shrink back.

"T-that don't matter! Its not like you can win this turn or anything," the man shouted.

"I never planned on it," Kaze said. "I summon Nimble Big Hamster in Attack," Kaze continued before placing his card down, causing a large, furry, gray hamster to literally shoot out of his card and run rapidly around Kaze's part of the field, nose twitching rapidly. _[**Attack:** 1100]_ "Brionac! Attack him directly," Kaze shouted. Kaze's Synchro card charged up a beam in it's mouth before throwing it's head forward and letting the frozen beam hit the man, causing him to yelp out._ [**?**: 1700 LP]_ "Nimble Big Hamster, attack him too," Kaze shouted, causing the monster's eyes to sparkle before it squeaked and shot off again, running its body into the man and causing him to hit the back of his D-wheel._ [**?**: 600 LP]_"That's all," Kaze said.

"You're gonna regret making me mad, punk," the man shouted before picking up his card. "I summon Cyber Dragon with it's effect," the man shouted before the large mechanical dragon appeared once more. _[**Attack:** 2100]_ "Pound that hamster into next week," he shouted. Cyber Dragon instantly flew itself forward before sinking it's mechanical fangs into the scurrying hamster, causing it to squeal before turning to dust, a window flying from the attack and brushing against Kaze, in which he simply put his arm up to block the wind from his face._ [**Kaze**: 3000 LP]_. "I set one card face down before setting a monster! That's it," the man finished. Kaze picked up his card and paused, causing me to bite my lip. He didn't get a bad card, did he...?

"I'll attack Cyber Dragon with Brionac," Kaze said. The two dragons charged for each other, but with one strong swipe of Brionac's tail, the opposing monster was turned to dust. _[**?**: 400 LP]_"I'll set one card face down. Your go," Kaze said.

"You give it to 'em, Boss," my captor shouted.

"I tribute my face down monster to summon Ice Emperor Mebius," Kaze's opponent shouted before his face down monster disappeared and was replaced by a large monster with water circling all around it._ [**Attack**: 2400]_ I bit into my lip more. Things didn't look too good now... "Then I can remove from play a Light-Type monster and a Dark-Type monster from my Cemetery in order to Special Summon Chaos Sorcerer," the man shouted. A white orb and a black orb appeared in front of the man before swirling together into one ball, which a magician flew through, the remnants of the white orb on one hand and black on the other. [_**Attack:** 2300]_ "Mebius! Destroy that serpent," the man shouted before flinging his hand out. Mebius flew forward, water rushing behind it, before slamming it's fist into Brionac, turning it to dust and letting the wind hit Kaze._ [**Kaze**: 2900 LP]_ "Then Chaos Sorcerer will take your life points," the man smirked before his other monster flew forward and rammed both fists into Kaze's gut, and, to my surprise, sent him back a few feet and to the ground before returning to it's master. _[**Kaze:** 600 LP]_Kaze slowly put a hand over his stomach before sitting up.

"Psychic... Psychic Duelist, huh," Kaze asked before getting to his feet.

"What's it matter! Take your turn," the man shouted.

"Kaze, its too dangerous! What if you lose! Just give up," I shouted.

"I won't give up! Not with your safety on the line," Kaze shouted, causing me to blush slightly. I couldn't help it. It was like when he saved me from the ladies who wouldn't leave me alone. This time, though, he was risking his life to protect me, like a knight in shining armor. I couldn't help but be stunned. "I activate Limit Rebirth! I can take one monster with less than 1000 attack from my Cemetery and Special Summon it back to the field! I chose Rescue Cat," Kaze shouted before the trap he activated turned into the same cat as before. "Now I'll tribute Rescue Cat once more in order to activate it's effect! I choose Rakkoala and Koalakko," Kaze said before his cat turned into a puff of smoke once more, this time creating a koala with a sea shell and an otter with a branch that was covered with leaves. _[Koalakko: **Attack:** 100] [Rakkoala: **Attack:** 1200]_ "When there's another Beast-Type monster on the field, due to Koalakko's effect, I can reduce one monster's attack to 0! I chose Mebius," Kaze said before his opponent jumped back in surprise. _[**Attack**: 0]_

"Y-you mean," he trailed off.

"I then activate Rakkoala's effect! If I control another Beast-Type, I can increase one of my monster's attack by 1000! I choose Rakkoala," Kaze shouted._ [**Attack:** 2200]_ "This is what happens when you mess with my friend! Rakkoala, destroy Mebius," Kaze shouted as his koala ran forward and rammed it's head into the man, causing him to yelp once more. _[**?**: 0 LP]_

"B-Boss," my captor shouted before letting me go and running over to his friend, where as now that I was free, I ran over to Kaze.

"Hey! What's going on here," a voice shouted, causing all of us to look up as a Neo Domino Police Officer pulled to a stop beside the men.

"Crow," I shouted as he took off his helmet, letting his orange hair go back to its usual position.

"I-Its not what it looks like, honest," the man who previously caught me shouted.

"Yeah yeah, tell it to the judge. I bet all these witnesses would beg to differ about what was going on here," Crow said before he took the men and left.

"Are you okay, Ruka," Kaze asked.

"Am I okay? What about you? That punch must have hurt a lot," I shouted.

"Its not as bad as you think," Kaze chuckled as everyone from the restaurant started pouring out.

"Kaze, are you alright," Sherry shouted, in which Kaze nodded. Sherry may be French, and she may be a better duelist than I am, but still... I think that I won this round... At least, for today, that is.

"Look on the bright side, guys! The food should be done now!"

* * *

><p><em>Reviews:<em>

Johan07: If it didn't get serious, then it'd probably go on with a back and forth xD Besides, having an intense triangle makes it more interesting, or at least in my opinion.

bryan102694: Well, that's because it was actually a fair duel xD In the anime, as I stated, they can pull out amazing combos like they're nothing. If I had Zone's deck, I'd need to duel at least a few hundred times before I got that good of a combo .' Anyway, it was easier to write it that way, and probably better than putting a time skip...

* * *

><p><em><span>Notes:<span>_

- I am not French... What so ever. All I know is how to say good-bye and hello for sure, and some other common things like that, so please excuse me if I get the types of food and stuff wrong. I'm not that great at French in general, to be quiet honest, but since Sherry's french, and I couldn't think of anything else...

- In case you're wondering, I see Hat Guy in all of the Tag Forces as the same person, so that's why he refers to going to Duel Academy. Who wouldn't remember sitting at the card shop and spending millions of DP on some sandwich roulette just so you could see an event ^-^'

- For the duel against the random guy, I used Tag Force 5 against Simon. He was who showed up as the random guy, so that's his deck is you're wondering about that as well.

- Since I'm not going to put every day down, you can see the days that I don't write about as either neutral and nothing happens or you can see them as Sherry won the 'round' that day, so Ruka doesn't want to talk about it. (Although I go with neutral days...)


	17. Sickness

I actually had no real plot for this chapter, so I just wrote what came to mind. Not really a swing for either Sherry or Ruka, but I seriously had no ideas -.- So sorry about this pretty wasteful chapter.

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><p><em>Day Five~<em>

Tears formed in my eyes against my will as I looked down at the blood seeping out of my knee. The scrape didn't hurt that bad at all, actually, but seeing my own blood make me get queasy and shaky. I should be stronger than this... I really should. After all, I did charge onto the Arc Cradle with Yusei and the others with ease, but a little scrape like this instantly made me cry... I tried to avert my eyes from the blood by tracing my finger across the cement that had created the wound in the first place, but the stinging feeling in my leg always brought my eyes back. You're probably wondering why I wasn't getting up to get help... That's because, mainly, I couldn't stand up without nearly toppling back to the ground, and because Rua had told me to stay put while he got help himself. "I figured you'd know better than to run like that," a voice said, causing me to look up. I instantly looked back down when I saw it was Sherry.

"I couldn't let Rua run off by himself," I mumbled. I looked towards Sherry out of the corner of my eyes as she got on one knee. "What is it," I asked.

"Now now, you can't think I'm mean enough to leave you injured and alone," Sherry smiled as she dug through pocket, pulling out a small bandage after a few second.

"Well, you are like that some times," I said under my breath as Sherry put the tan bandage on.

"Hm," Sherry asked as she looked up.

"Nothing," I muttered as Sherry slowly got back on her feet. "What are you doing out here..? You're usually with Mizoguchi or Kaze," I said, not bothering to try and get up in case my wound started hurting again.

"Actually, Kaze said he had something to do and ran off, but he hasn't come back yet," Sherry sighed, obviously thinking _'Boys...'_

"Let me go already," a familiar voice shouted, causing both Sherry and I to look over and see Rua dragging Kaze by his arm... Although it was more like Kaze was just walking with him to avoid a conflict.

"You have to come with me," Rua said without looking at the brown haired teen behind him.

"You could slow down though," Kaze groaned before both of the boys noticed us.

"There! See, this is why you needed to come," Rua shouted as he put his hands on his waist.

"You wanted me to go faster... why, exactly," Kaze asked.

"Ruka's hurt! She needs help," Rua shouted as he flung his arms out towards me for emphasis.

"I'm fine, Rua... Sherry helped me a while back," I said as I put my hand on my bandaged knee.

"Well, that's good," Rua grinned, easily forgetting that he probably ran for five minutes straight to get help.

"Kaze, you wouldn't mind telling us what took you so long, would you," Sherry asked, in which Kaze jumped back a little.

"Well... It actual has something to do with this guy from yesterday," Kaze trailed off. "You see, he's been leaving a bunch of letters at my door or where ever I am at the time... About one every ten minutes, actually... Apparently he wanted a duel, so to get him to stop, I decided to go to where the letter said... Dueled the guy and before I came back, this reporter came and... You can probably figure out the rest," Kaze sighed.

"You're pretty popular now," Rua teased before lightly elbowing Kaze's side, causing Kaze to sigh once more. "Hey! Hey! How about we duel! Ruka's better and I've been wanting to duel you," Rua shouted.

"I'm actually dueled out for the day... I'm not really feeling like having another duel," Kaze mumbled.

"And getting a bandage doesn't count as getting better," Sherry said, causing Rua to pucker his lip in an attempt at a puppy dog face.

"Please," Rua begged.

"Fine, I'll duel you," Kaze sighed, clearly not in the mood to argue with Rua.

"Yeah! Now just you wait! I'm a Signer now, so I'm gonna have a bunch of new combos and everything that you'll never see coming," Rua grinned before running a few feet away, duel disk activated.

"I bet you will," Kaze mumbled before activating his own duel disk. I slowly remembered the first time that Sherry and I truly met, which was on a day like this. Rua and Kaze dueling and Sherry and I sitting by each other and watching the duel. The only difference was that Rua was now a Signer, and I was now injured. Another difference was that Kaze lost this time.

"I... I did it! I did it! _Yahoo_," Rua screamed as he giddily ran around, occasionally jumping or throwing his fist into the air.

"What happened...? You let him win, didn't you," Sherry asked softly, as to not let Rua hear.

"No... I told you, I'm just not feeling it... I didn't even want to duel in the first place," Kaze sighed.

"Kaze, how about you come with me for a minute," Sherry said before grabbing Kaze's wrist and dragging him away without waiting for his response, leaving me silent. I sat there, watching the two who seemed to be arguing about something, and occasionally turning towards my partying brother.

"Look, I'm telling you, I'm fine," Kaze said, arms crossed defiantly as if it'd help make his point.

"You're not. Argue with me all you want, but you won't change my decision," Sherry said, causing Kaze to sigh before getting dragged back over to Rua and I. "Well, you two. Kaze here is getting sick, so I'm going to take him home," Sherry said.

"I told you, I'm not sick and I'm not getting sick," Kaze protested, but Sherry simply ignored him.

"He looks fine to me," I muttered.

"Then I didn't really win our duel if you were sick during it," Rua shouted. "Look, you get better real quick, and then we can have a rematch," Rua smiled.

"There's no getting better if I'm not sick," Kaze grumbled.

"Either way, you said you were sick of dueling for today, so you should go home before anyone else challenges you," Sherry muttered as she turned towards Kaze with a slight glare, causing him to shrink back.

"O-of course," Kaze muttered.

"Not to be butting in, but where do you get that he's sick," I asked.

"He's been acting different. Isn't that a flare on its own," Sherry asked.

"I guess," I muttered.

"Now come on. Let's get going," Sherry said before dragging Kaze off again.

"Just you wait, Ruka! I'll duel him when he's all better and then we can really duke it out," Rua grinned.

"You do know that becoming a Signer doesn't make you instantly a better duelist, right," I asked as I turned towards Rua.

"It does too! I mean, did you see the combos I could pull off," Rua shouted.

"That's just because you got a good draw..."

"It was not! I could really feel my cards and everything! I could feel it! It wasn't a good draw!"

"I'm sure if wasn't."

"Now you're being sarcastic!"

"I'm not sarcastic at all."

"Yeah, you are! I can tell," Rua said, cheeks puffed. "You just wait, I'm telling you! I'll beat Kaze when he is at his best," Rua shouted with his fist over his heart proudly. That reminds me... I guess I'd have to visit Kaze later if he really was sick... Nothing makes you feel better when you're sick then chicken noodle soup, right?

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><p><em><span>Reviews:<span>_

bryan102694: What...? You'll have to be a little more specific than that xD I'm not sure what you're asking, really.

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><p><em>Notes:<em>

- If you haven't noticed, these are pretty much like filler... I actually don't like the way some of these chapters are coming out, as I'm idea striped for every day besides fourteen... Its for that reason that I have the entire plot of that day written down. So seriously, if you have anything you'd like to see or ideas to help me out with some of the chapters until the ending day, I'd really appreciate it ^-^


	18. Teams

_Day 9~_

"So you see, that's why the answer is 214," Kaze said, glancing up from my homework to see if I understood what he did. I wouldn't say, but I already knew the answer after seeing the problem. It was selfish of me, I know, but I hardly got to spend any time with Kaze now that Sherry was 'borrowing' him to help with her D-wheel almost everyday.

"Y-yeah... What about the next problem...? 437 is a prime number, isn't it...? How would we divide it," I asked. Of course 437 wasn't prime... It was divisible by 23, but like I was going to say anything. Kaze simply wrote the number on the side of the paper before showing me how to find out if a number was prime or not, and if it wasn't, then how to find the factors.

"So do you get it now," Kaze asked as he circled the 23 and 19. I nodded.

"Ruka," Rua called out as the door opened, causing me to look towards my twin.

"Yeah," I asked.

"Wait... Why is Kaze helping with your homework," Rua asked, causing me to jump back a little, praying that he wouldn't tell Kaze that I was doing fine in class. "That's no fair! Help me with mine," Rua shouted as he ripped off his backpack, causing me to sigh with relief. That's how Kaze got stuck trying to teach Rua long division... "So then... Its five," Rua asked, squinting at his paper with disgust, for it was his tenth try at the problem.

"Yup. Now put on a zero and keep going," Kaze said, causing Rua to moan before putting his pencil back on the paper.

"Sorry for getting you involved in this," I muttered.

"Its not as bad as you think it is... Its actually nice to hang out like this," Kaze said. as he readjusted his hat so the shadow from the visor covered his eyes.

"There! Is that right," Rua asked, causing Kaze to look back towards my twin.

"Yup! Good job," Kaze smiled as he ruffled Rua's hair, causing him to grin.

"Hey! That reminds me! We need to have our rematch," Rua shouted.

"Is that all your homework," Kaze asked.

"Yeah! So come on, come on! Let's duel," Rua shouted, energy practically dripping from his ears.

"Fine, fine. I guess I do owe you a rematch," Kaze muttered.

"Awesome! Let's do this," Rua cheered before he and Kaze went out by the pool, causing me to sigh. So much for my time with Kaze...

_[**Kaze:** 4000 LP] [**Rua:** 4000 LP]_  
>"Since you went first last time, you go first again," Rua said.<p>

"Fine," Kaze sighed. "I summon XX-Saber Fulhelmknight in attack," Kaze said before the blond archer wearing a red cape appeared in front of him._ [**Attack:** 1300] _"With one card face down, that's all," Kaze said.

"Then its my go," Rua shouted before eagerly picking up his card. "I summon Deformer Remote Control," Rua continued before throwing his card onto his duel disk, causing the remote to appear before him. _[**Attack:** 300]_ "Then I'll equip Remote Control with Power Converter! With this, by reducing the monster's attack that its equipt to to zero, I can gain half it's attack in life points," Rua said as the motor appeared on his monsters back before roaring to life. _[**Rua:** 4150 LP]_"I'll set two cards face down and that's all," Rua said.

"My move then," Kaze muttered. "I activate Tempest! With this, I can destroy all spells and traps," Kaze shouted.

"W-what," Rua shouted as a large wind blew across the field, swiping up the cards and destroying them.

"Then I'll summon Nimble Big Hamster," Kaze said before the same hyper rodent from a few days ago appeared_ [**Attack:** 1100]_"XX-Saber Fulhelmknight! Destroy Deformer Remote Control," Kaze shouted. His monster quickly drew its bow before firing a mass of arrows at Rua's monster.

"I activate Gadget Driver's effect! I can discard him to change a Deformer's battle position," Rua shouted, discarding the card and causing him monster to change into a normal remote._ [**Defense:** 1200]_The arrows still pierced Rua's monster though, although he didn't take any damage.

"Nimble Big Hamster, attack him directly," Kaze said before his remaining monster rushed forward and headbutted Rua, causing him to yelp in surprise. _[**Rua:** 3050 LP]_"That's all," Kaze finished.

"Just you watch! This draw will change everything," Rua shouted as he picked up his card. "I set one card and that's it," Rua said, promptly throwing the card into his duel disk. Kaze drew his card and ran over them for a few seconds.

"I summon Moja in attack," Kaze said as he set the card on his duel disk, causing a black blob with a yellow face to appear. _[**Attack:** 100]_ "I tune all three of my monsters!_ 'The ruler's heartbeat, will now file through here! Take witness to its creation-shaking power! Synchro Summon! My very soul, Red Demon's Dragon!',_" Kaze shouted as his archer turned into three rings which his remaining monsters flew though. After a flash of light, Jack's Ace Monster, Red Demon's Dragon appeared, giving a roar before taming down, for the most part. _[**Attack:** 3000]_ "Red Demon's Dragon! Attack Rua directly! _Absolute Power Force_," Kaze shouted. Red Demon's Dragon gave a roar of approval before gathering flames around it's right claw, promptly rushing forward and slamming it through Rua, causing to yelp out once more._ [**Rua:** 50 LP]_"Your go," Kaze said.

"Just watch," Rua muttered before taking a dramatic draw. Rua bit his lip at seeing the card, letting both Kaze and I know it was a bad draw. "I set one card face down. That'll be it," Rua muttered. Kaze picked up his card, although he didn't really have to.

"Red Demon's Dragon! Finish this," Kaze shouted, in which the dragon prepared it's claw once more before attacking. _[**Rua:** 0 LP]_

"Darn it! I always lose," Rua shouted.

"Don't worry about it. You'll be a great duelist some day! I bet you'll have your own team some day and you'll be the champ," Kaze smiled.

"Hey! Promise me you'll be on my team then! That way, we'll be unstoppable," Rua shouted, sparks in his eyes.

"Promise," Kaze chuckled before ruffling Rua's hair, causing him to smile.

"Hey! Ruka! You wanna be on my team too," Rua asked.

"I guess," I muttered. In the future... I guess if Kaze doesn't go with Sherry, I wouldn't mind being on a team with him and Rua... But if he did... Hanging out together would be too awkward. Its for that reason that I can't make a promise yet... I'd have to wait until Sherry confessed...

"You guess? What kinda attitude is that? It'll be awesome! Super fun! We could be champions! Better than Jack," Rua shouted eagerly, the sparks in his eyes increasing.

"Fine, fine. Its a promise," I sighed.

"Sweet! Now we have to get practicing," Rua shouted.

"Already...? It'll be a few years before you can even sign up, you know," Kaze said.

"But if we practice now, we can be one of those dark horses! Winning on the first time! Then we will be super popular," Rua grinned.

"If you see it that way," I muttered, trying to imagine what the matches would be like. Let's face it, my deck and Rua's deck probably couldn't even beat Aki's alone... Unless we had some good luck. Wouldn't every duel basically be Kaze then? That wouldn't last long, no matter how good he is.

"Hey Kaze! You wanna see something that Ruka put on our calender," Rua asked, causing me to jump a few inches in the air, remembering the red heart Rua drew.

"I-I didn't put that there! You did," I shouted as my cheeks went pink.

"Put what," Kaze asked.

"Nothing," I panicked, quickly stumbling over to the calender and flipping the cover down before Kaze could see anything.

"You don't want him to see," Rua asked.

"W-why would I," I asked.

"I don't see what's to be embarrassed about. Its actually pretty cool," Kaze said, causing me to turn towards the calender, seeing a sticker on the cover with Brionac on it.

"That's what I thought! I don't know why she got so protective about it though," Rua sighed.

"I... uh," I muttered, trying to think of an excuse, but I was pulling a blank.

"Well, I'm gonna go home to prepare for tomorrow. I'm going to test some new upgrades for my D-wheel to see if Sherry's can handle it," Kaze said.

"Sweet! Can we come and watch," Rua asked eagerly.

"I don't see why not," Kaze smiled. Sherry again, huh...? Whenever he mentions Sherry when she's not around, it makes me wonder... Does he mention me that much when I'm not around...? Oh, I'm hopeless... Why can't I stop feeling this... this... Jealousy.

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><p><em>Reviews:<em>

bryan102694: Then he'd have Paradox's deck...? I don't think it'd make any difference, really...

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><p><em>Notes:<em>

- I actually was doing some grammar/spelling editing, but when I went to save, it said there was a server error. When the server was back, it had my latest addition, but I don't know if it got every change. So as a note, if you see some mistakes, I'm sorry for that.

- This is going to be the last boring chapter. After this, I'm going to confession day since I have no decent ideas. Since I've pretty much got it written, it'll be a day or two of editing and I'll have the next chapter up.

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><p><em><span>Cards:<span>_

Japanese - English

Red Demon's Dragon - Red Dragon Archfiend  
>Deformer Remote Control - Morphtronic Remoten<br>Tempest - Heavy Storm  
>Nimble Big Hamster - Super-Nimble Mega Hamster<p> 


	19. Confessions

_Day 14 - The Last Day~_

I took a few awkward steps forward, trying not to trip over my skis. This was my first time skiing, and if I could hardly walk right, I can't say that actually skiing would be safe for me... Right now, you're probably wondering why I'm going skiing in the first place, since its Kaze's birthday today. It was actually Kaze who wanted to go to this skiing resort for his birthday, and I wasn't going to complain about it... Although it'd be nice if he didn't suddenly disappear and leave me alone. Once I reached the lodge's entrance, I sighed with relief. No more awkward walking! After slipping out of my skis and picking them up, I entered the lodge. Maybe Kaze was in the room... He might have gotten cold, but that doesn't really explain why he wouldn't say anything. I walked over to the elevator and pressed the up button, waiting a few seconds until the door opened before walking in and pressing the '3' button. I walked all the way to room 341 before placing my skiis against the wall and fumbling through my pocket for the key, which was hard to feel due to my mittens, but once I got the card out, it was easy to put it into the reader. Once the light turned green, I reclaimed the card, stuffing it back into my pocket before opening the door. "Kaze-," I started, but froze on the spot at what I saw. Yes, Kaze was there, but so was Sherry... More importantly, Kaze was on the chair and Sherry was less than a foot away from him, or at least until you got to her head. Sherry's lips were pressed against Kaze's and tears quickly formed in my eyes. The blond slowly pulled away a little, but rested the tip of her forehead against Kaze's before looking at me out of the corner of her eyes. I quickly ran away before either of them could say anything. To be honest, I don't know why it felt like both of them ran a knife though my heart... I knew it was coming, since Sherry said she was going to confess... I guess I didn't think it'd come so soon... Oh, who am I kidding? I knew it'd happen from the very start! What chance did I even stand against Sherry...? It was stupid of me to even think I stood a chance! I should have taken the hint from the very beginning...

I kept running until my tears ended up turning to ice, which is when I stopped to clear my cheeks from the frozen tears. I slowly took in my surrounds and saw there was only trees as an eerie wind blew. "Just great... Now I'm lost," I muttered before I started moving forward again, only now I was walking. This time, I only stopped when I came across a wooden cabin, and by the time I found it, the wind was howling loudly and wiping snow everywhere, and the temperature had dropped dramatically. "Is anyone here," I asked as I knocked on the wooden door, cupping my hands around my mouth as an attempt to warm my covered hands during the wait. After getting no response, I tried opening the door, and it opened right away. Against my prior judgement of not going in the seemingly abandoned home, I walked inside, closing the door behind me. Once inside, I found it was a rather barren place, having only a bed, which had nothing on it beside the mattres, and a pillow, a table, and a cabinet. I only stayed because it was slightly warmer and much safer than wandering around. That's how I got crouched in the corner of this cabin, for how long, I can't say for sure. All I know is that I was huddled with myself until I heard a voice.

"Ruka!"

The voice was pretty faint, and could have came from anywhere due to how hard the wind was blowing. Regardless, I stood onto shaky feet and peered outside the window, seeing a red blur slowly advancing through the trees. "Ruka," the voice called out again. I was too stunned by the sight of Kaze trudging through the storm, all for me, to respond. Luckily, I didn't have to. Kaze managed his way to the cabin and slammed the door open before falling to his knees, taking deep breaths that became visible in the cold air. Once I managed to gather my senses, I ran over to the door and forced it shut before turning to Kaze, who was now on his feet, but still breathing heavy. "At least... at least you got here safely," Kaze muttered, smiling weakly.

"Sorry you had to come and find me," I muttered. Neither of us said anything after that. What should I say...? Demand he tell me about his kiss with Sherry, or wait for him to talk about it? Demanding would let him know how I felt about him, but not saying anything much get me no where, as he might not want to talk about it. "I... I, uh... saw you kiss Sherry," I said, just to put the conversation out there.

"I wouldn't say that," Kaze muttered as he looked away.

"What's that suppose to mean," I asked, my curiosity peeked.

"We can talk about it later, alright...? Right now, we should focus on getting back to the lodge," Kaze said as he walked over to the cabinet. "You see, I barley made it here... I was going in circles and everything... So we've got to hold out until the storm ends in order to get back, I guess," Kaze continued, looking over his shoulder towards me in order to see my reaction. I just sat there with my mittens scrunched on my pants, slowly taking in the news. Of course, I tried to put on a calm front, but inside was was as hyper as Rua was on a daily basis. This storm might last for hours, and against my prior feelings, I'd get to spend them alone with Kaze...! But... But now, he and Sherry are probably... I guess this isn't as good as it sounded. "Just great," Kaze muttered, causing me to look up and see Kaze with his phone out.

"What's wrong," I asked.

"No bars here. There's no getting help, and the cabinets are bare," Kaze muttered as he put his phone away before looking back up at me. We both went silent for a few seconds until Kaze started unzipping his jacket.

"W-what are you doing," I shouted through my heated up face as I turned away, my eyes pressed closed. I opened them when I felt something hit my body, but all I saw was red. I grabbed what was over my face and pulled his down, seeing it was Kaze's jacket. If Kaze took it off and gave it to me... My face got even hotter against the cold. "W-why did you do that," I asked.

"You're cold, aren't you...? Your safety is what matters for now," Kaze said as he took his hat off and tossed it on the bare bed. I sat there stunned at seeing Kaze without anything on waist up. Every part of my brain told me to look away, as to not get embarrassed even more than I already was, but my body wouldn't respond.

"You can't go without your jacket though... Then you'll be cold," I muttered, my eyes still glued on Kaze.

"Like I said. Your safety is what matters. I'll manage somehow, just you watch," Kaze smiled before sitting down next to his hat on the mattress. For the third time in the hour, both of us went silent, but this time, it lasted for a while.

"If we are gonna stay here for a while," I trailed off, breaking the silence.

"I guess we have time to talk about it," Kaze muttered.

"I... I heard Sherry said she was going to confess to you... and... I guess you like her too... Since you two were kissing," I muttered.

"Is that why you ran," Kaze asked softly as he turned towards me. I didn't reply. "Sherry is actually the one who kissed me," Kaze said as he faced forward once more, and I turned up towards him.

"What do you mean...?"

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><p><em>"Kaze, come on," Sherry said before grabbing Kaze's wrist and dragging the brown haired teen off against his protests, leaving Ruka unknowingly alone.<em>

_"Just what's going on...? You two have been... How do I put it...? Weird lately," Kaze said as Sherry stopped for the elevator._

_"I'll tell you once we get somewhere private," Sherry said, not saying anything else as she dragged Kaze into the elevator._

_"Now seriously! What's up," Kaze said as Sherry closed the door to their room._

_"Sit down," Sherry muttered. Kaze hesitantly complied and Sherry walked over, lowering herself next to him. "The truth is... I love you," Sherry said, causing Kaze's eyes to widen, but Sherry quickly kissed him before he could say anything._

_"Kaze-," a voice started as the door opened, revealing Ruka. Sherry silently pulled away and put her forehead against Kaze's before looking towards Ruka, who tearfully ran away._

_"You... you what," Kaze asked softly._

_"Happy _False Confession Day_," Sherry said as she pulled away._

_"W-what," Kaze asked, even more confused than before._

_"What better way to spend _False Confession Day_ than to falsely confess your love to someone?"_

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><p>"And that's it... Apparently my birthday is on some weird holiday," Kaze sighed.<p>

"So... Sherry didn't mean her confession," I asked, now sitting beside Kaze on the mattress

"Nope. I don't know why she'd mess with my head like that, though," Kaze muttered as he turned the other way. Was Sherry toying with my feelings this entire time...? Or was she giving me a chance to confess on my own...? There were so many questions, and only one blond missing who had the answers.

"Were you disappointed when you heard it was a joke," I asked.

"I guess you could say that... I mean, don't get me wrong... Sherry is a really good friend and all, so I don't know why she would try and toy with me like that," Kaze muttered.

"So then... You don't return the feeling," I pressed.

"Since when are you so interested about my love life," Kaze teased as he wrapped his arm around my neck and ruffled my hair a little with his knuckles. After he stopped, I quickly hugged him, causing our face to turn red. "R-Ruka," Kaze asked.

"You're gonna get cold... So I'll keep you warm," I muttered, my face the more red of the two. Neither of us said anything until our blushes died down. "Kaze... There's... there's something I want to tell you," I said, slowly gathering my courage up.

"Don't tell me you're gonna try the false confession thing too," Kaze muttered.

"No... I'm not going to lie like Sherry," I muttered as my grip on Kaze tightened, willing my mouth to say three words I've been holding in this entire time. The words just wouldn't form in my mouth though, and I sat there, struggling to form the first word in my mouth. Kaze waited patiently to see what I was going to say, which didn't help me at all. "_I_... _I_... _I love_... _you_," I mumbled before everything went black.

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><p><em>Notes:<em>

- When I was picking out what day Kaze's birthday was, I saw that there is a holiday that is actually called 'False Confessions Day'... Although you aren't supposed to do something like Sherry did. You're apparently supposed to confess something like 'I kiss my dog every night' and then admit you were lying, but I just wanted to mess with Ruka a little, so I decided to have it on this day. So on the 21st, go hog wild and confess some false things I guess, since its apparently real xD

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><p><em>Reviews:<em>

bryan102694: Since it wouldn't have any effect on the story, as it will probably end after a few chapters, I can't say. But if you've played through Yusei and Jack's story mode and you personally believe that he does, you can believe so, but I have no preference on the matter, really.


	20. Friends

I slowly opened my eyes when I felt something hot get placed on my forehead. "Oh good. You're awake," a brown haired woman smiled before backing up a few feet. I slowly sat up, causing whatever was on my forehead to fall to my lap, which turned out to be a wet towel.

"What... what happened," I asked softly, looking around the room. It was pure white, and only the lady, who I took to be a nurse, and I were there.

"Well, your friend brought you in to the lodge a while ago... You were unconscious at the time, so we took you here, which is where we treat anyone who is wounded during their stay," the lady said.

"What happened to Kaze then," I asked.

"I'm not sure what happened to your friend, but he went off with this blond girl. I believe her name was Sherry," the nurse said, causing me to bite my lip. Sherry... Wait, what was I getting upset for...? She didn't even confess, really! This could have all been a sick joke! She could have no feelings for Kaze whatsoever! But then... Why would she kiss Kaze for a joke...? "That's right! Now that you're awake, should I go inform your friends," the nurse asked.

"No, its fine... I mean, I'd rather go see them myself," I said.

"Well, if you're sure you can get there fine," the lady murmured before grabbing something off the table and handing it to me. I instantly recognized it as the card to the room we were staying in. "I believe it was Sherry who brought this down for you," the lady said.

"Thank you for your time and everything," I smiled. The lady just smiled back before I managed my way to my feet and headed towards our room.

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><p>I looked at the clock on the wall. 11:43... Knowing Kaze, he probably just woke up a few minutes ago due to Sherry's abrupt awakenings. With that in mind, I put the card in the reader before opening the door. To say the least, I was shocked at the sight. Kaze was sleeping on one of the beds, happily sleeping the day away as he always did, but what shocked me was the blond that was sleeping next to him. On the same bed. "S-Sherry," I asked. Almost instantly, the blond opened her eyes and turned towards me.<p>

"Oh... Its just you," Sherry muttered before pushing herself into a sitting position. Sherry was wearing what I took to be her regular clothes without the armor, which was basically a white shirt and white pants. Kaze had his gray shirt on and probably his jeans.

"What was... that," I asked, waving slightly towards the bed.

"Well, we only have two beds and a couch.. Kaze was supposed to sleep on the couch, but after yesterday, I decided to have him sleep on the bed. I went and dropped your things at the nurse's before coming back up. I tried to get to sleep on the couch but it was too stiff, so I joined Kaze on the bed," Sherry explained.

"Why didn't you take the other bed," I asked, glancing at the bare bed beside me.

"Well, I was going to be nice and let you sleep there if you came back earlier than we woke up," Sherry said. Both of us didn't say anything after that. I didn't because I was waiting for Sherry to explain why I was at the nurse's, but I had no idea why Sherry wasn't saying anything. "You don't remember," Sherry finally asked.

"Not really... I mean, I remember seeing Kaze in the cabin and all that, and-," I started, but I quickly caught myself. There was no way I could tell Sherry that I confessed to Kaze too! Well, not necessarily 'too' since her's was fake, but... "All I know is one second I was awake and the next I'm in the nurse's place," I muttered.

"You see, Kaze found you out in the cabin, but you apparently were already sleeping. I take it Kaze went and gave you his jacket before making his way back here out of fear that you may develop hypothermia or worse," Sherry said.

"W.. Wait... I was sleeping when Kaze got there," I asked. That didn't make sense...! I was fully awake! But then... Did I really just dream it all up? Did I not confess it all?

"That's how it seemed. Apparently you had one realistic dream," Sherry said.

"But... Sherry, about your confession," I said. If what Kaze told me was really true... Then wouldn't that mean that not all of it was a dream?

"What about it," Sherry asked.

"Happy False Confession Day," I asked, crossing my fingers behind my back in a prayer that she would say yes. If she said yes, then there was a huge chance that I already confessed to Kaze, and I just had to wait for his answer and this rivalry with Sherry would be done. Finding another opportunity when both of us were alone again would be like finding 10,000 yen on the ground!

"Yes...? What about it," Sherry asked.

"Ah... Didn't... didn't you... falsely confess to Kaze...? Like, you didn't mean it," I asked.

"Just how long were you listening in on us," Sherry asked, her expression suggesting that she figured I had followed them to the room from the very start.

"I didn't listen in on you," I grumbled, cheeks puffed in protest.

"Then how would you know that," Sherry asked, apparently more interested in the subject now.

"Kaze told me about it when he got to the cabin," I said. Sherry was about to say something when we heard some shuffling, causing us to turn towards the brown haired boy on the bed. Both of us waiting in anticipation for him to sit up and say something, but Kaze simply turned the other way before continuing on his sleeping habit. Sherry twitched, where as I sighed, already knowing what Sherry was going to do next.

"If you sleep anymore, you're going to turn nocturnal," Sherry muttered, causing me to quickly turned towards the blond.

"What," I asked. Where was the usual violent kick or loud shout...? Where was the violent approach in order for her to get what she wanted? Where was... the actually Sherry?

"Hm...? What's wrong," Sherry asked as she looked up towards me. I quickly changed my stunned face to a fairly normal one before shaking me head slightly.

"I-its just that you're weird now," I said, but quickly regretted what I said. "I-I mean, not normal! Or, er... You know, unusual," I quickly said before quieting down due to my lack of excuses. Sherry just blinked, staring at me as if I would start talking once more. It was then that I noticed that Sherry's eyes were more dull than usual, as her usually bright green shade. "Sherry," I asked softly. Sherry just sighed and brushed some of her bangs out of her face before looking back up at me.

"To tell the truth, I didn't just happen to be unable to sleep... I was so worried when Kaze ran off to look for you, but never came back... I refused to sleep because I knew if he got back, you'd probably need help, and he might as well, and so, I waited... Next thing I knew, it was late at night and Kaze was trudging his way through the snow, you in his arms. I took you from there and Kaze went out like a light on the bed," Sherry muttered. "So whatever you thought was wrong with me doesn't exist... I'm just over worried and over tired," Sherry sighed. Sherry was... worried... Worried for only Kaze, or worried for both of us? Was this nice Sherry the one that Kaze usually hung out with, or did this her only come out once in a blue moon? There was a yawn and we both turned towards Kaze once more, this time, he was already sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes "Morning," Sherry smiled slightly.

"Morning to you guys too," Kaze grinned.

"Uh... Kaze," I asked, causing the brown haired teen to look towards me. "Do you... uh, have a response... to what we talked about," I continued.

"Of course not. I was sleeping. I couldn't hear you," Kaze sighed. I held back a sigh of my own.

"Ruka means this apparent conversation you had with her at the cabin. To me, it sounds like she had one heck of a dream," Sherry muttered. Kaze put a hand on his chin, as if concentrating to remember. That meant he had no clue...

"J-just forget it...! Its nothing," I forced a fake smile, which I should have learned didn't work with these two by now.

"Well if you're stuttering, it isn't nothing," Sherry noted.

"You know we're your friends, Ruka... You can tell us anything," Kaze added. Well... I'm not sure about Sherry, but...

"Well, unless its a private girl matter. Then she can't tell a boy like you," Sherry smiled, seemingly back to her normal self.

"Fine, fine. I can take a hint. I'll leave then," Kaze grumbled as he got to his feet, shoving his hands in his pocket before heading towards the door. I took a deep breath. This was really it. It was time for Sherry and I to end this... To come clean with everything... and for Kaze to finally make his decision.

"Kaze... Wait..."

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><p><em>Notes:<em>

- When Ruka refers to 10,000 yen, she's referring to finding around 130 US dollars on the ground, which is a single bill in their currency. As another note to go with this, I have found that much money on the ground once in a parking lot, so don't take it as she means its impossible.

- In case this chapter some what confuses you, here's a little run down that will hopefully make it better (Since when I first read the chapter, it didn't flow smoothly until I plugged in somethings) Basically, the past chapter wasn't a dream, but since Kaze didn't get to tell Sherry the story, she assumes that Ruka was unconscious from the very start and Kaze brought her back. At the end of the previous chapter, Ruka passes out due to being exposed to the cold too much. That's pretty much what should have been gathered. There will be more detail in the next chapter or so.

- Sorry for the long wait on an update ^-^' Since school is starting back up for me, and I'm going to a new school, I'm pretty drained. Most of my writing can only be done of the weekends for this reason.

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><p><em><span>Reviews:<span>_

BebePanda401: I'm glad you do ^^ That was kind of my goal, but as a fair warning, I think this story is probably way off base from the actual Tag Force (Silent Hat Guy + only four events + only hints at Hat Guy x anyone through the entire thing) The first two paragraphs were actually supposed to be a little lengthy intro, and I couldn't think of good spots to break them up, which is why I just decided to leave them like that...


	21. Coming Clean

"So its not a girl thing," Kaze asked.

"Not necessarily," I muttered.

"I think what Ruka means is that it is a girl thing, but she would prefer that you hear," Sherry said. Kaze sat there for a few seconds, as if debating on if he wanted to risk staying here and hearing some 'private girl matters' or leave and pretend this never happened.

"Its probably not as bad as you think," I said, causing Kaze to sigh with relief before sitting down on the couch, preparing himself for what he probably figured would be a talk about makeup or something of the like.

"Not to be intruding, but this wouldn't have to be about what's been going on for the past few weeks, would it," Sherry asked. I sheepishly nodded. If Sherry joined in on explaining things to Kaze, maybe this wouldn't be such a random jab to him... I can't imagine what would go through a boy's head when he finds out that two girls like him... This way, it'll probably make more understandable, since Sherry can fill in the blanks. So I took a deep breath, which is when I realized I had no idea how to started this conversation.

"Um... You see, Kaze," I trailed off.

"To save Ruka the trouble, she wants to tell you that she likes you," Sherry said, causing me to blush.

"S-Sherry," I shouted.

"But don't we all like each other here," Kaze asked, being the oblivious boy he was.

"Like... Like as in what I was saying in the Spirit World," I said. Kaze went silent, struggling to recall the event from a month or two ago.

"I get it," Kaze said, startling both Sherry and I.

"Y-you do," I asked. That was a whole lot quicker than I thought...

"Of course. You two are trying to pull my leg again, right," Kaze asked.

"We really aren't," Sherry muttered.

"Then you mean you two actually," Kaze trailed off, slowly taking in the new information. Once he finally understood, his face turned pink. "You guys," Kaze started once more, but couldn't bring himself to say the words.

"Love you," Sherry asked. As you can probably see, this is what I meant by I'm glad Sherry was joining in on the conversation. I would have choked up a long time ago if she wasn't, technically, on my side. Kaze took a gulp before nodding, still probably having trouble with the fact or embarrassment that he didn't recognize our feelings until now.

"So... Do you know what I meant by who do you like more a while ago," I asked, in which Kaze nodded again. The three of us went silent, and I nervously twiddled my fingers, occasionally glancing a Sherry, to get her to say something, or Kaze, to get him to say something, although it didn't work.

"I think we'd be asking a little too much of you to chose now, correct," Sherry asked. Kaze didn't even have to think about his answer and nearly instantly nodded. "Well, its not like we didn't expect it," Sherry sighed, in which I nodded in agreement. Sherry was about to say something else when her phone rang. Just as Sherry was about to answer the call, or hit the silence button depending on her mood, Kaze's phone started ringing too, causing her to pause. "At the same time," Sherry asked softly before flipping her phone open, Kaze following in suit. I sat there in silence as the two listened to what their caller had to say, which was apparently a lot. That apparently long one sided conversation seemed to make both Kaze and Sherry upset, as Sherry suddenly slammed her phone shut before turning towards the door, preparing to make a bolt for it of Kaze hadn't grabbed her wrist, causing me to slightly twitch at the scene. "Let me go! I need to go destroy them...! Yliaster," Sherry shouted.

"Yliaster," I asked. Weren't they ended once defeated Zone...? I thought that he and '_The Three Emperors of Yliaster_' were all there was. That and I thought that Sherry had given up on her obsession with Yliaster...

"There's a life beyond revenge, Sherry! You can't rush into this! It may be a trap," Kaze said, still holding onto Sherry's wrist tightly. Sherry instantly stopped her struggling at that, but didn't make any attempt to step away from the door, making Kaze keep his grip so she wouldn't run.

"What was that call even about," I asked.

"Some person from Yliaster is basically calling both of us out to this island," Kaze muttered. My hands subconsciously clenched. Another calling out...? With Yliaster to top it off...?

"We have to stop them, trap or not," Sherry said.

"But if its a trap, your lives may be in danger all over again... We should leave it to Sector Security," I said. Sherry scoffed slightly at that, but Kaze kept his poker face, not letting me know what he was really thinking.

"Let me remind you of what they were doing while the Arc Cradle was coming down. They were evacuating citizens to safety, leaving the main threat at large. Its our job to finish them off for Sector Security," Sherry said.

"Look, just go get our D-wheels... I'll handle this," Kaze muttered.

"K-kaze-," I started, but Sherry had already left, causing me to go quiet.

"You know that we have to do this. If Yliaster is targeting us directly, we have to keep others out of danger," Kaze said.

"But you're putting yourself in danger...! If I lost you, I don't know what I'd do," I said with a blush.

"I proved to you that I can keep my promises, haven't I...? I promise nothing will go wrong! I have Sherry with me after all," Kaze smiled, not helping my mood. Another _'Sherry and Kaze only'_ time...

"I just don't see why you have to keep putting your life on the line... At least let Yusei and the rest of us come with you! That was things won't be as dangerous," I insisted.

"You guys are my irreplaceable friends. I couldn't bare it if you guys got hurt because of some careless mistake I might make. If Sherry and I go alone, we should be able to get around quicker as well," Kaze muttered.

"Still...! Don't you realize how dangerous this is? This is Yliaster we're talking about... Not everyone will want a duel, Kaze... They might take a more violent approach, and if one of you guys are alone, then-," I started, but Kaze caused me to stop by placing his hand on my head.

"We're never gonna be alone, Ruka. Not only will we have you guys supporting us, our duel spirits will always be with us, right," Kaze smiled and pulled out his deck with his free hand, letting me slowly take in the voices of his duel spirits. To save you from about twenty different phrases, they all pretty much said the same thing. That they would help keep Kaze safe. The only part that confused me was that they actually said '_again_'.

"What do they mean by again," I asked, forgetting that Kaze couldn't openly see duel spirits, or even hear them. It was either only by a rare chance or if the spirits directly called for him, as Regulus has done in the past. "I mean, about keeping you safe," I added.

"I actually didn't get here on my own. The spirits helped me," Kaze said, causing my eyes to drift back to the duel spirits. Actually, one in particular. Brionac, one of the few monsters that probably could have helped deal with cold. To confirm my believes, Brionac even admitted about the whole thing, which took me a few second to take in due to it's rather fast talking. To summarize it quickly, Brionac materialized and used it's powers to focus the cold away from both Kaze and I, so we could travel safely without the risk of Kaze fainting as well. "Then... Take care of him," I muttered, smiling slightly when the spirits eagerly nodded before Kaze returned his deck to his holder.

"Now promise me that you won't go and think I'm dead like last time, all right," Kaze asked, in which I slowly nodded. A D-wheel engine revved, causing the two of us to look up, even though we wouldn't be able to see the white D-wheel outside that belonged to Sherry. "Looks like its time to go," Kaze muttered.

"Can... can I give you a good-bye gift," I asked softly as I twiddled my fingers, a blush creeping to my face. I guess here goes nothing... If I don't get my 'mark' in... A whole week with Sherry alone, at least, while knowing she loves him...? That would turn out bad for me... So when Kaze bent down to see what I had in mind, I gave him a quick kiss... on the cheek. Don't tell me you thought I was that bold! If I did that and Sherry found out... Things wouldn't be pretty, I bet. Kaze's face turned pink as he trailed his fingers to his cheek, words apparently not forming in his mouth. Sherry revved her D-wheel once more as a 'Hurry it up' sign. "Good luck, Kaze," I smiled. Kaze sat there blinking for a few seconds before slightly nodding and running off to meet Sherry. I walked over to the window and placed my arms on the windowsill so I could rest my head on it while I watched Kaze clumsily running out of the lodge and making his way to his D-wheel, getting a few scolding from Sherry before the two drove off. What was it that Kaze said to Sherry...? A life beyond revenge, right...? I wonder if there's something like that for me. But a life beyond jealousy...

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><p><em><span>Reviews:<span>_

Seiei: As I mentioned, or think I mentioned, the duel did come out kind of short, but I liked it that way. I'm glad that others felt that way about it as well

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><p><em>Notes:<em>

- Sorry for basically toying with you on this... You won't believe how many times that I've actually rewritten this chapter because I haven't been able to get anything where they're either in character or is realistic, so I figured that I'd go with this one.

- I was thinking about Yliaster at school one day, because I'm cool like that, and I remembered that during the dark signer arc, there was a member of Yliaster who confronted Roman (Unless I'm entirely off) So that's where I got the idea that Yliaster could still very well be alive and going, as he didn't look anything like the three emperors.

- This is the last chapter of _Jealousy_, as I think that the story has gotten pretty long, so since there will be one final plot, I've decided to make a new story. I'm not as uncreative as to name it '_Jealousy 2_' or something... It'll probably be something like '_Lives beyond revenge and jealousy_'... Unless that doesn't fit. Then I may just name it Jealousy 2... I'm no good with titles. Since I'm working out some plot things, as well as working with school now, and it may result in the next part taking a while, I've written up a preview. Its nothing like the first paragraph of the chapter or anything, but a few things to give you a brief overview and hopefully catch/keep your interest.

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><p><em><span>Preview of the next story:<span>_

_I weakly looked up towards the brown haired teen sitting beside me, probably calling out my name, but the words just weren't hitting my ears. None of my senses were working right, to be quiet honest. My vision was hardly even working as it was. For all I knew, this brown haired teen might not even be my crush at all. He may be the enemy. My crush may as well be sharing the same fate as me, senses failing, and conscious drifting. I don't know what actually pushed me to do what I did next... It was foolish and idiotic of me, I'll admit that. Before my conscious slipped away_ _entirely_, _I actually managed to say one name. Although it was one name I thought I'd never say in such a situation, as she wasn't anywhere near my age, and she was my sworn enemy, as we both shared the same crush. So as I said, it was stupid of me to say her name, or rather whisper. To top off any other reason, we were thousands of miles away from said person. So why did I waste my breath, when there was no supernatural force that would carry over my plead for help to the fourteen, or was she now fifteen, year old girl across the seas. I still put my entire faith in her, praying my words would reach her, letting her know all that was happening here and letting her get help from someone, anyone..._

_"Ruka..."_


End file.
